Happy Birthday
by Winter's Light
Summary: Celebrate the Seigaku regular’s birthdays by reading this ficcie starting with the cold and stoic captain! Please read and review. First PoT fic. Rating may change. Warnings of shonen ai. [complete]
1. Tezuka Kunimitsu

Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, though I wished I did, 'cause then I'd do a whole bunch of omakes…

Chapter 1 – Tezuka Kunimitsu

Tezuka Kunimitsu (1) had always been afraid of the incoming date of October 7th and still was. He couldn't exactly explain _why_ it had caused so much horror to him and nearly scared the wits out of him. Though, few people could at least guess the possibilities.

The said few people being **eight** other Seigaku regulars. The regulars – though different in many ways all shared one common trait with their beloved Buchou(2).

And that was that they all hated to lose.

So of course, on this _fine_ Saturday morning when he woke up had he really felt unlucky that day. He woke up, hair tussled unlike the stoic and calm, all the while neatly-dressed and always on-time Tezuka Kunimitsu, with a grim face on.

It was definitely _not_ his lucky day. And he didn't want to admit it, but he had gotten rather fond of the word "lucky" ever since he had gotten back from Germany and his rehabilitation. There was no way he would ever tell Sengoku Kiyosumi(3) of Yamabuki Junior High(4) that.

Or anyone for that matter.

So on one bright autumn morning, he had woken up with a grim face. He glanced over at his old fashioned clock and noticed that he was late. How unusual… Wait, did he say that he was late? He switched his dazed expression off and then noticed that he was, indeed and very unusually, late.

_Very_ late.

No, more like half an hour late for practice – and that was assuming he was a regular member – not the Buchou.

So frantically, but saving himself some dignity, he rushed into the bathroom to proceed with his usual routine.

Only ten times faster.

--

He had to admit, whoever had done that prank had done a great job – no – an absolutely terrific job. He just _had_ to find out the hard way, hadn't he? Just as he was drying his hair with the fluffy white towel with his usual expression, he decided to make things quicker and _multitask_.

Ah, yes, that wonderful word that causes so many people to cry out in anguish. Multitask… Have you ever tried it? Perhaps you have, like eating ice cream while reading a book only to find that some of the delicious flavored dessert had taken a dive into the book. Or you've tried to brush your hair while brushing your teeth and found that you could only do one or the other without getting paste in your hair or hair in your teeth.

And that was what Tezuka Kunimitsu decided to do.

He decided to dry his hair while pack his school stuff – which should have been done the night before but he had gone out with his family so there really _was_ an actual excuse that was not un-dignified.

As expected of the Seigaku Junior High School Buchou! (5)

It was then that he noticed there was something very wrong with his clock. He had stopped doing whatever he was doing (which was drying his hair and "packing") and picked up the said clock.

He stared for a long time, forgetting that he was unusually late.

He stared…

And stared…

And stared…

Until his eyebrows narrowed in frustration and a frown overtook his mouth. Today was _not_ his day as it seemed. He lifted the clock and looked under, where the batteries were usually kept. Opening it up, he found, to his anger, what he had suspected.

No batteries…

Which meant that the clock had stopped working…

Which meant that he could be later than late…

Which meant that he could be waking up at the wrong time…

Which meant that Tezuka Kunimitsu would be in a very bad mood today at practice…

Which meant that he would be giving a lot of laps out…

More than usual…

A LOT more…

Which means I should stop…

Right now…

And continue the story…

He wanted to cry out of frustration, but we all know that Tezuka Kunimitsu was never the person to let out his emotions so easily. Instead, he only let out a snarl and continued to do what he was doing – which was drying his hair and packing his bag for school.

Only when he was putting on his watch did he notice the real time.

He wanted to curse, to swear, anything just to make the time go backwards – rewind… He was already late for the first class.

Yes, he was _that_ late.

This time, he checked to make sure that his watch was working. He found out the hard way that it was. Soon, he was rushing down the stairs, bag, uniform, and ready to run out the door and dash to his school. Of course, he was never the person to do such a thing and instead, walked really fast down the stairs only to have his mother call him for breakfast.

"Good morning Kuni-chan!" (6) his mother greeted as soon as he walked into the kitchen. Kunimitsu cringed at the nickname and then a sudden realization hit him.

Didn't his mother realize what time it was?

He glanced up at the clock they had in the kitchen, it read that he was still later than late – later than he had ever been in his life.

"Okaa-san…"(7) he started with a frown, "Do you know what time it is?"

His mother had been frying a Western-style breakfast that included bacon and eggs. "Hm?" she asked absentmindedly as she flipped the egg over for the third and final time. "What did you say?"

"Do you know what time it is?" he repeated as his frown reached up to his forehead.

His mother only grinned a bit as if she knew something he didn't. "Kuni-chan…" she started as if trying to break something really important to him into tiny pieces so he could digest the facts, "There's usually school today right?" she asked with the same grin.

He nodded before he could remember that his mother had her back to him. "Ah."

"Well…" his mother started, "I called in today and told them that you were sick and couldn't come!" she finished with the same grin. She then started to lift the frying pan and slid the fried egg off the pan and into a plate.

"What?" was Tezuka's intelligent reply.

"I called them to tell that you were sick," she repeated, once again, preoccupied by her cooking of breakfast. "Are you going deaf like Ojii-san?" (8) she asked with concern.

Tezuka shook his head, "_Why_ did you tell them that I was sick?" he asked and began to ponder the reasons why his mother had such an insane idea.

"It's your birthday, silly!"

Then it all came back. He was turning sixteen today. Wow, the big one-six! His frown had turned grim and immediately, he felt no need to rush into school today… Or anywhere for that matter.

"I'm going back to bed," he replied quickly as he spun around and started to head up the stairs to get some rest and sleep the whole day away, wishing that everyone would forget about his birthday.

"Now Kuni-chan, really!!" his mother scolded as she set the plates down on the table. "At least eat some breakfast…"

The said "Kuni-chan" let out a sigh and set his tennis/school bag down on the ground, making sure it didn't make a sound (he was sure that his grandparents were still asleep) and walked over to the table while tugging a button open.

"Ah," he grunted, 'Ah' meaning that he was agreeing. He sat down and started to eat, unaware of what could happen to him if he stayed home.

But…

That's another story, so we'll continue with THIS story.

--

"Buchou's not here…"

Those were the first words Echizen Ryoma had said as soon as he arrived at the Seigaku Tennis Clubroom. He had taken awhile to register the fact that his captain was absent for he was quite sleepy and had always been the person who woke up late.

"Ah, Echizen!" Oishi Syuichiro (9) greeted their freshmen ace as the said freshmen entered the clubroom, just standing there, observing and taking in details on who were there and who wasn't. "I heard Kunimitsu (10) called in sick today!" he explained, as if Echizen would believe him.

"…Sick?" Echizen asked, his brain still processing the word. "Ah… Of what?" he continued as he started walking over to his locker and setting his bag inside, then began to change.

Oishi shrugged and frown, "I don't know… But every year, in October, he takes a day off – supposedly sick I suppose…" he said, trying to explain what was happening, "Then again, maybe he just doesn't want to go to school on his birthday."

By this point, everyone in the clubroom who were changing had frozen in their spots, excluding Echizen who continued to pull his Seigaku shirt on.

"_Birthday?!_" the others chorused in unison, some of them, sounding way off key. "It's Buchou's birthday today?!"

Oishi's eyes widened and he mentally slapped himself for letting out his friend's birthday but then thought better of it. Maybe he'd be able to get the said captain something without having to run laps the next day…

Echizen, who had been the first one to talk about Tezuka Kunimitsu's absence with Oishi, was now tugging on his regulars jersey gave a sigh. "So it's Buchou's birthday, ne? Oishi-senpai?" he asked directly at the said senpai.

"A-ah, yeah," Oishi nodded and agreed, "but he doesn't like it and well… He's turning sixteen I think…" Oishi wanted to slap himself for not remembering what age he was turning. They were the same age so of course Tezuka was turning sixteen!!

It was Momoshiro Takeshi's fault. Really, Oishi had nothing to do with it. And it was partly Kikumaru Eiji's fault, too. Oh and while we are on that, it was Fuji Syuusuke's fault too. (11)

Really, Oishi had nothing to do with it, besides the fact that he practically told everyone in the tennis club when their Buchou's birthday was…

"Hey! We should throw a party for him!"

Yep, Momoshiro was the one who suggested it, not him – Oishi. The other club members all shouted with agreement, wanting to surprise their ever-stoic and cold captain.

However, the ever-mothering regular of the Seigaku Tennis Club just had to interfere. "We should get organize then," he reasoned to the others as the others quieted down to listen to their Vice Captain. "Let's start with the food!"

And so they had started.

--

There were things that Tezuka wanted; of course, one of them is to play tennis constantly without having to worry about such things such as injured elbow or any illness. Another was that he loved to go camping and fish and would love to do that more often if he had not been so busy with tennis.

Playing hooky at home with his mother on his birthday was something he did not want.

Especially, since he was the captain of the tennis club.

He sighed and resigned himself to eating breakfast. Soon after the meal was finished, he walked back to his room to change into a lavender shirt and a pair of black pants. No school meant no uniform, he thought to himself as he began to change.

He glanced at the clock and saw that usually, if he was at school, it was the beginning of second period.

So now what? Every year, his parents had taken a day off, and drove him out to the woods for a little camping, but that had a week's notice. Plus, he didn't take a day off of school and no one bothered to ask his birthday… (Either that or he just glared at them).

He plopped himself down on the bed ungracefully and watched the ceiling – counting the dots that were there.

Soon, his breathing evened out and he was asleep.

By the time Tezuka was up and about once again, his stomach was growling for attention and food. It was nearly lunch and he got up to go to the kitchen once more.

Once again, his mother was there, cooking lunch. This time, his grandfather had appeared as well as his father. He greeted the three of them and sat down.

"Ah! Kuni-chan, dear! I told them that you'd be there for afternoon practice since the cold wasn't as bad as last years'!" her mother exclaimed with a grin as she set down the plates for each of them and sat down next to his father.

"A-Ah…" Tezuka answered uncertain of whether or not he should go. "Thank you for the food…" he muttered along with his family as they bowed their heads a little bit.

Ah, much chaos shall begin.

--

"Up there!! A little higher!! Yep! That's it!"

"Unya! Hoi, hoi!! Everyone out of the way!! Momo's coming through!!"

"Out of the way!!"

"Momo-senpai, you'll crush the other people like th—"

"Shut up Ryoma!"

"With my two years of tennis experience, I shall lead the party to—"

"SHUT UP HORIO!"

Oishi sighed and he lifted a hand to rub his temples. There was much chaos as they tried to set everything up. It was now almost afternoon practice and he had been informed by the captain's mother that he would be there.

Earlier, he had sent two people at a time to go and buy something quick. Some, had already bought something, knowing that it was the captain's birthday (some being Fuji, Oishi, Kikumaru, and Kawamura). And others, didn't know when was the captain's birthday, had indeed bought something as a welcome back gift when he had returned from rehabilitation, but never got the chance to give it to him.

Other club members, including certain three regulars, hadn't even thought of a gift and resulted in having Oishi give them half an hour to find a gift in the nearest shop.

"Other club members" being Echizen, Kaidou, and Momoshiro.

So now they were setting things up. Somehow this reminded him of another time when they did this… When was it…? He asked himself as he surveyed his team members.

"Oishii!! Is this right?" a voice jolted him out of his thoughts as the owner of the voice stared curiously at him. It was Kikumaru Eiji, his doubles partner and one half of the Golden Pair.

"E-eh?" he asked, looking up to where he was pointing. He looked up at the huge white banner decorated with tennis balls and tennis racket prints and large bold, blue letters that read: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUCHOU!".

He smiled. "That looks great Eiji!"

Eiji grinned, "Momo did most of it, but he made Ochibi-chan here help!!" (12)

Oishi wanted to laugh. The clubroom was decorated so much, it was hard to tell that it was even a tennis clubroom in the first place. It looks so much like a birthday house or something… And even the courts!! The courts, itself, was clean and regular as always, but the fences were decorated with colored tennis balls which Arai had found in his room. How he got them, no one knows…

"This will be fun, Eiji…" Oishi replied, surveying the clubroom and the courts.

"This will be fun…"

--

And so, that was where Tezuka Kunimitsu found his day to be. Quite boring, playing a bit of Go, Chess or whatever came up with his grandfather, reading a couple of magazines that all of which were about tennis and a couple of chapters in a novel which he was supposed to finish reading by two weeks…

So to say that Tezuka had had a boring day was an understatement.

He was actually glad to find that it was nearing the afternoon practice, when everyone who didn't have after school activities or such would leave and he would be in command of his tennis team.

He quickly dressed in his school uniform, grabbing his tennis bag, which he had already packed due to boredom, and walked out the door with an, "I'm off!"

And then he found, that he wished he had stayed home.

When he had arrived at the tennis courts, everyone seemed to be practicing like usual, only… There was that, all-too-happy atmosphere as if Fuji Syuusuke had set up a scheme or plot against him and the other team members were all too happy to comply.

He looked around, surveying the members. It had seemed that none of the regulars were there, but the juniors and freshmen were behaving quite…_too_ well…

So, without another moment's hesitation, he waltzed into the clubroom (not literally of course).

When he opened the clubroom door, however, whatever had he expected, this was **not** it, definitely **not** it.

Cheerful party favors were blown, streamers came flying and a general shout of "SURPRISE!!" with the following of "Tezuka-buchou!!" or just plain, "Buchou!!".

His usual stoic expression had disappeared and for what seemed like the first time to the other regulars, he was surprised.

Yep, that's right, Tezuka Kunimitsu was surprised.

Yes, _that_ Tezuka Kunimitsu, the one with the always stoic expression, whenever angered or annoyed would order you laps.

The other eight regulars piled up in front of him, two lagging behind.

A small, soft smile graced his lips and he thanked them, "Thank you, everyone…"

Oishi smiled at his best friend while Kikumaru cheered, Fuji smiled while Inui scribbled something in his notebook (muttering something about data). Momoshiro gave a "Whoop!" while Kaidou hissed. Kawamura smiled and congratulated him on turning sixteen while the last and youngest member of the group lagged behind, not saying. Instead, he pulled his cap down to cover his eyes.

But Tezuka knew him.

He knew that that was his way of congratulating him and telling him "Happy Birthday!" though Echizen hadn't said anything.

Kikumaru chided the small boy. "C'mon Ochibi!! Say something!"

And suddenly all eyes were on the freshmen regular.

"Happy birthday, Buchou…" he muttered almost inaudibly, pulling the brim of his cap down further than ever.

Tezuka gave a nod, then, "Shouldn't you be practicing?"

Six of the other eight regulars stared at their captain with disbelief.

"Kunimitsu, do you really intend to keep practice going on your birthday?!" Oishi spoke up first, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"C'mon Tezuka!! It's your birthday!!" Kikumaru reminded him with his childish and hyper voice.

"U-Um, Tezuka, I think you should just take a break and…well, it's your birthday and all…" Kawamura spoke up softly, wondering if he had been heard at all.

Tezuka decided to dismiss this. He nodded and walked outside to give the dismissal for the end of practice early today.

"YAY! PARTY!" was Kikumaru's response to this.

Tezuka came in just in time to hear Kikumaru say that. He gave him a glare that said, Shut-up-about-the-party-or-I'm-going and asked, "Then what are we doing?"

"Well, I thought you'd like some gifts and cake," Fuji replied with his usual smile and closed eyes.

Tezuka looked taken back. He hadn't had gifts in a while… Maybe this would be a good experience… He smiled and thanked them once again, bowing to show it.

"Here, regulars first – by oldest of course," Inui said, deciding the order of how they would give the gifts to their captain and handing him a wrapped present in the shape of a cylinder.

"A-Ah…" Tezuka replied as he began to unwrap the unwanted present. He knew it, he just knew it! It turned out to a bottle of the latest Inui juice. This time, there was a recipe taped to the side. He glanced at it and saw that there were only sweets… Did everyone think he didn't like them? "Thank you Inui," he thanked his fellow third year.

"Nya!! My turn!" Kikumaru decided, shoving his gift at his captain, "Make sure you take care of him!!"

_Take…care… of him?_ Tezuka thought, eyebrows narrowing in confusion as he wrapped the badly wrapped present.

It was a stuffed brown bear in which Kikumaru had kindly added a miniature Seigaku regulars jersey and glasses… Now where had he seen those glasses?

"Thank you Kikumaru," he thanked the next third year.

"Squeeze the belly, Tezuka!" Kikumaru chided as Tezuka stared at him with a confused look. "Just do it!"

He did so. What he found, was well, most have been amusing to the other club members. The bear had, in a high-pitched voice that sounded very much like Kikumaru as if he was mocking him and saying, "20 LAPS NOW!"

The clubroom filled with laughter and snickers. Tezuka, however, calmly put the bear down and proceeded with the next present.

It was in a random order but Tezuka had gotten his favorite grip tape plus a new fishing rod from Oishi, an album of pictures from when they were freshmen from Fuji, and a survival in the wilderness book – cooking edition from Kawamura.

It was then, the second years turn.

"Here 'ya go, Buchou!!" Momoshiro said, handing a large rectangular-shaped present to the captain. "Enjoy it!"

Tezuka nodded in thanks and opened it. It was a box of assorted snacks. Figures Momoshiro would be the one to be giving out food…

"Thank you, Momoshiro," he said and Momoshiro grinned.

"That way, you can eat and relax!!"

"Idiot," Kaidou responded as he handed the captain his gift.

Momoshiro was about to retort when Tezuka gave him THE look and instead, he scowled at Kaidou and went back to watching.

Tezuka proceeded to open the gift. He found it quite useful. It was a CD player in which he could carry around while jogging or doing laps for practicing or building stamina. Earphones also came with it as did headphones, since the second year didn't know which one to get for his captain.

"Thank you Kaidou," he replied in the same tone he had used earlier and nodded.

It was finally the youngest regular's turn. Echizen put his can of Ponta down and handed his captain a large rectangular-shaped box wrapped in red wrapping paper. "Happy birthday Buchou," he said once again.

Tezuka nodded and wondered what Echizen had that could be so heavy. He unwrapped the paper and found it to be DVDs with no names on the covers.

"From last year…" Echizen explained, "Ryuuzaki-sensei had taped them, gave them to my dad and he gave them to me… But I watched it already, I though you'd like 'em since… That was last year's team…" he explained in his usual bored tone. (Echizen remembered having them and since his home was close, he ran to go get them while "shopping" for his Buchou).

If Tezuka was an emotional person like Kikumaru or Oishi, he'd well up with tears and thank him. But he isn't, and he didn't. Instead, he thanked the youngest member and reminded himself to go easy on him for laps the next practice.

"CAKE TIME!" Kikumaru and Momoshiro chorused as they rushed to Echizen's locker to get the large cake out. (It went to him since he was the most responsible out of the three of them – Them being Kikumaru, Momoshiro and Echizen).

They took out the cake and opened the box. The cake was plain white as the frosting and in blue icing, were the words, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEZUKA-BUCHOU!!"

Of course, there **has** to be something that goes wrong, right?

Oishi was decided to be the one to cut out the cake since he was the most responsible out of all of them while Fuji delivered them.

While on the way to give a piece to the captain, fuji tripped and guess who caught him?

That's right. The stoic captain caught him and got cake all over his school uniform.

"Opps! Ah, sorry Tezuka," he said softly as he got up to brushed some crumbs and confetti off him. "Looks like you got cake all over you," he added as the captain closed his eyes in annoyance.

This was one reason why he hated birthdays – especially his.

"Well, here's a napkin…" Fuji continued as he handed the captain a napkin. "Oh! Drinks!" he remembered as he started to go get the drinks from his own locker.

"Ah! Fuji-senpai! Ryoma here can get it!" Momoshiro said cheerfully as he waited for his piece of cake.

"Why me?" Echizen asked as he sipped his Ponta.

"You're the closest…"

There was no arguing to that, and besides, he would have said something along the lines of "Senpai's orders" or something so Echizen went to Fuji's locker to find the drinks. Soon he found them and carried a tray of four over to Fuji.

He tripped.

Over that same darn crack that also tripped Fuji.

And he fell onto Fuji, too.

Knocking the captain down in the meantime along with them.

Echizen made sure to remember to give Momoshiro the bill for the next month.

"S-Sorry, Fuji-senpai…" Echizen apologized as he began to get up but instead was somehow pushed down.

"Now… It's alright…" Fuji smiled.

Tezuka grunted from underneath Fuji and Echizen.

This was not how he wanted to spend his birthday.

Especially underneath two of his teammates…

Both the younger of the three got up so that their captain could stand. "Ne Tezuka…" Fuji started as he advanced towards the older male.

"You have a bit of cake there…" he continued as his finger went up to the corner of Tezuka's lips, swiping a piece of frosting and licking it off his finger. "There, it's gone now…" he smiled cheerfully as if he had done nothing wrong.

The other members turned to see if their captain would react.

Sadly, to Inui's disappointment to gather new data, he didn't.

Fuji then turned his attention to the freshmen regular next to him who had golden eyes widened in shock for a brief second before retaining their bored look once again.

"Heh, so Fuji-senpai and Buchou are together?" he asked, smirking.

"No," was the said Buchou's stern answer.

"Eh? Are you sure about that, honey?" Fuji teased the captain.

"20 laps, Fuji."

"Around you?"

"40."

The clubroom was filled with snickers now.

"Nya! Syuusuke!! Why didn't you tell me about your relationship?" Kikumaru asked, clearly pretending to be hurt by his best friend's silence to speak about his new "boyfriend".

"Ah… Well, we just started it today…" Fuji replied with a smile.

"EH? Really? When?"

"Just now."

"100 laps Fuji."

**Author's Note: **((stretches)) WAI!!! I finally finished!! This is my first ever Prince of Tennis fanfiction!! I hope you liked it!! And excuse the horrible attempts at humor. I am sadly horrible at it. Oh and now the footnotes. Heh.

- I'm going by last names first. Like in Japan.

- Buchou is Captain. I want to keep things as much like the original as possible.

- Again, last name first. He's that Lucky guy from Yamabuki who was drooling over girls.

- Yamabuki is that school Akustu Jin goes to.

- If you don't know anything about Seigaku Junior High, you're in big trouble.

- I don't know how his mother calls him, so I'm going with "Kuni-chan" 'cause it's cute.

- I don't know how he calls him mother, but I think it's formal.

- Ojii-san is his grandfather. I expect they call him "Ojii-san".

- Syuichiro can be spelled many ways. I'm going with this way.

- If Syuichiro and Kunimitsu were close enough to call best friends, I expect they'd be on first names now.

- Syuusuke can be spelled many ways. I'm going with this way.

– Ochibi-chan is what Eiji calls Ryoma. Kinda like "Kiddo" or "Squirt". But I like Ochibi-chan better 'cause it's cute.

Alright, that's it. Hopefully, you didn't need them. ((sighs)) OH and this is un-betaed. So I'm sorry if there are any grammar mistakes. It's just 'cause yours truly is too lazy to work her butt off to try and at least re-read and correct a few things so I'm sorry!!

By the way, I think this is my longest chapter yet! YAY!! XD

Please tell me if you liked it or not. Oh and up next is Kawamura Takashi!!

**EDIT:** Replaced chapter with the last names.


	2. Kawamura Takashi

Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or its cute and or hot characters. This is just fanfiction and I'm not making money off this 'cause if I did, I'd be rich and not here.

Chapter 2 – Kawamura Takashi

It was that day once a year that Kawamura Takashi used to look forward to. Nowadays, however, he didn't really care. Most of the time, his friends forgot, his dad was busy with the restaurant and well… He usually felt depressed on his birthday.

That's right, his birthday.

So that morning, he did his usual routine, trying to forget the fact that it was his birthday and continue smiling.

After all, it was pretty painful having no one remembering your birthday even though you told them tons of times.

As he was walking down the stairs, fixing his uniform and grabbing his tennis bag, he heard his dad call from downstairs saying something about someone was it?

"What?" he yelled in return, hoping that his father would repeat what he just said and felt his heart raise at the fact that maybe, just maybe, his dad would at least say "happy birthday" to him.

His hope came crashing down.

"Someone is here to see you!" he said instead as Kawamura reached the ground floor. He saw that his dad was wiping the counter with a damp rag.

"A-ah…" he replied as he placed his tennis bag strap on his shoulder and made his way towards the door.

"Takashi!"

He turned around, a questioning look flared upon his face.

"Happy birthday and have a safe trip," was his dad's reply plus a grin.

He smiled. "Thank you Otou-san(1), and I will," he said firmly, walking out the door.

There, he met a surprise. Standing next to the door, on the sidewalk was none other than the one and only tennis prodigy Fuji Syuusuke. His friend…

"Good morning Taka-san," he greeted with his usual smile, eyes closed.

Somehow, his smile seemed to be more…brighter…than usual…

"Ah! Good morning Fujiko-chan(2)," he greeted, using Fuji's nickname. He smiled in return and the two of them were on their way to morning tennis practice.

It was the typical November morning, with colorful leaves falling to the ground caused by the sudden cool weather and the chilly air.

As the two walked in silence towards the junior high school, other students jogged past – in a hurry to attend a meeting or just to get there early – or others would strut pass them. Some of them went in groups – chattering about in loud decibels.

When they reached the entrance, Fuji turned around with a smile once again. "We're here…" he stated.

Kawamura chuckled, "You're stating the obvious, Fujiko-chan," he teased him.

Fuji only kept grinning and then said, "Well, let's go…"

The third year power house nodded and followed the tennis prodigy inside the school grounds.

--

By the time they reached the clubroom, almost everyone who were changing had gone silent the moment Kawamura walked in. He turned his head around to see what was going on and what he was missing out on. But nothing out of the ordinary was seen.

So he continued his way, oblivious to strange looks from his other team mates. He quickly changed, not wanting to be late for the morning practice but by the time he had finished, almost everyone had disappeared.

Next to him, there was Momoshiro Takeshi, who had just finished putting his bag in the little locker and was about to go. Noticing that Kawamura was staring, he grinned and offered, "Why don't we go together?"

Kawamura nodded and smiled in return, "Thanks," he replied quickly pushing the rest of his clothing into the locker and rushing out the door with Momoshiro.

"You two!! You're both late!"

That wasn't the first Kawamura had heard those words and he doubt they would be the last, but this was the first time he heard them directed to him. He was late, he realized, what a way to start off a day – especially on his birthday.

"A-Ah!! We got caught!!" Momoshiro said as he turned around to face the wrath of the captain for being late.

Kawamura followed and bowed his head, "I'm sorry Tezuka, I don't know –"

He was interrupted.

"Momoshiro – 20 laps for being late and Kawamura – I'll let you off the hook since this is the first time you've been late," Tezuka Kunimitsu said with a stern tone as he dismissed the both of them and walked towards his vice captain to talk to about tennis.

Kawamura was surprised to be let off. He thought he'd be running at least 40 laps, not none. But it really was his first time. He shook his head, enough thinking, it was time to practice!!

--

Echizen Ryoma panted as he rushed into the empty clubroom. Quickly, he pushed the doors open and rushed inside. Once in, he managed to take off his school uniform to exchange it with his tennis one without getting any buttons stuck in his hair. (The last time he tried to do this in less than 5 seconds, he failed and got a button stuck in his hair but - deep breath - that's another story).

Once he managed to achieve his goal, he placed his Fila cap on his head and walked out the door.

He walked silently, waiting for the key words –

"Echizen!!"

Ah there was the first one.

"20 laps for being late!!"

And more words… Ah well, might as well explain to him.

Echizen turned and faced the captain of the tennis club. "Buchou, I was on library duty," he answered, explaining why he was late to practice.

The captain looked at his disinteresting, but remembering what he had told himself, he let out a sigh and then, "Fine, but tell us if you're on library duty next time."

"Yes Buchou," Echizen answered in his usual monotone voice.

"Now get to practice."

Echizen nodded and was about to go off but something stopped him. A hand on his shoulder. He turned, expecting to see the captain but it was Fuji Syuusuke – both his hands were on the captain's and his own shoulder.

"Eh? Fuji-senpai…?" he asked, wondering what was going on.

"Fuji…" Tezuka growled as he remembered that "incident" on his birthday.

"Dear Kuni-chan, would you like to remind us what date is today?" Fuji went straight to the point without any hurdles, smiling sweetly and almost venomous.

Tezuka only looked at Fuji was crazy. "November 18th."

"And…?" Fuji continued as if waiting for something.

"It's Saturday…"

"And…?"

"I don't know…?"

"He's waiting for the announcement of Kawamura Takashi's birthday, Tezuka," a voice out of nowhere said.

Both Echizen and Tezuka let out a small gasp of surprise at the sudden appearance of their data player – Inui Sadaharu.

"B-Birthday? Another one? Already?" Echizen asked firstly.

"Yes, Kawamura is turning 16 today," Inui said with a maniacal grin, "Good data…"(3)

Both captain and freshmen backed away from him slowly while Fuji only smiled his usual smile.

"Exactly, I've already told the others ahead of time since I knew that you wouldn't remember," his smile became brighter, "So the clubroom is probably already set up by now."

Tezuka gave Fuji his most surprised looks (which wasn't very surprised-looking) and glared at him. "You should have told me, I would have helped," he replied, surprised the one who wanted to surprise him. (XD)

"Well… What shall we do now? Ah, just dismiss practice early for this afternoon," Fuji said smiling.

"…Fine…"

Echizen was standing there confused while Inui scribbled down notes in his green data book.

"Echizen."

Echizen jerked.

"You still have practice."

Echizen groaned and ran off.

Inui grinned and scribbled some more.

"You too Inui."

Inui had already disappeared.

"Fuji too."

Fuji had disappeared a while ago.

It was going to be a long day…

--

Kawamura sat down, heaving sigh and sipped his cooled drink. It was so nice to have a cool drink of water after practicing for a while… Especially on a day like this – nice and cool. But when you played or exercised of any sort, it got hot.

Kawamura watched as Fuji, first walked away from the group consisting of Tezuka, Inui and the always-late-to-practice Echizen. Obviously Echizen had had library duties or something for Tezuka to excuse him from the 20 laps for being late.

He noticed that Echizen had run off, followed by Inui, leaving Tezuka by himself. He wondered what happened.

He felt someone sit down next to him and saw that it was Kaidou Kaoru. The snake-like tennis player.

"Hi Kaidou," he greeted with a smile, releasing the straw from his mouth.

Kaidou nodded and greeted, "Hi Kawamura-senpai."

It was then that he noticed that the younger tennis player was breathing deeply. Apparently he had had just finished a practice match with… He turned to survey the courts. There was Momoshiro hitting a rally with Oishi, Fuji talking to Inui, Echizen hitting balls to a wall, Tezuka surveying the practice so that left…

It was then that he saw Kikumaru bouncing up to him with a smile, and breathing heavily.

"Hi-hi Taka-san!" he greeted with a smile and glomped him for a while before letting him go.

"Hi E-Eiji (4)," Kikumaru said, trying to catch his breath from being glomped with such a force that seemed almost impossible for someone like Kikumaru Eiji.

Kikumaru plopped himself down next to Kawamura and grabbed a drink and started gulping down the cool water. Once he finished, he let out a sigh and wiped a sweat forming on his forehead. "So what are you doing after school, Taka-san?"

Kawamura – who had been just taking out his racket and was about to go and hit some more balls – looked back with a surprised look. "Eh?" he asked, "Oh um, probably helping my dad again," he answered shyly.

Kikumaru only pouted, "Aww!! Taka-san doesn't want to hang out with meeeee!!" he complained in a sing-song voice.

The other boy's eyes widened in panic, "A-Ah!! Eiji!! I didn't mean it like that! I'm just – Eiji, please stop crying!!"

Yes the hyper acrobatic had started to cry – not really but poor Kawamura couldn't tell. (Crocodile tears).

"E-Eiji!!" Kawamura said again, "P-Please stop crying!!" His mind raced with thoughts on trying to figure out how to stop the cat-like tennis player from crying, "I can try asking my dad if I can come with you!!" he offered.

Kikumaru brightened up immediately, "Really?" he asked, eyes shining with happiness, "YAY!!" He glomped the power house once again.

He got up quickly and waved back at Kawamura, "See ya later then!!" Kawamura nodded but knew that Kikumaru wouldn't notice.

Kawamura sighed, somehow he knew it would be a long day…

--

By the time practice was over, everyone had already gone inside the clubroom to change to had already gone to their homeroom class. However, only one person was left on the courts, appearing to be waiting for Kawamura to finish washing his face with the cold water.

"Ah! Hi Echizen-kun!" he greeted Seigaku Tennis Club's rookie regular.

The said regular only nodded with his usual bored expression and said, "Isn't Kawamura-senpai supposed to be in the clubroom by now?" he asked in a bored tone.

"Ah, well… I stayed behind to finish helping the freshmen pick up balls," Kawamura explained – too good for his own.

"Kawamura-senpai should really just stick to practicing and leave the ball picking to the other freshmen," Echizen replied.

"Well… It would feel… awkward…"

"It's more awkward having a third year regular helping you."

Kawamura only chuckled slightly as the both of them headed towards the clubroom. Echizen stepped aside and let Kawamura – with a questioning stare – open the door.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" the seven other regulars shouted or in Tezuka case – said.

"E-Eh?" Kawamura asked and turned around to look at Echizen, "Is it your birthday?"

Echizen slapped his forehead, and shook his head, "No Kawamura-senpai," he stepped in and turned around, "It's for you."

Kawamura only blushed out of embarrassment and found himself being glomped once again, by Kikumaru. "Nya!! Taka-san, happy birthday!!"

"You're not forgotten Taka-san," Fuji added with his usual smile.

"Happy birthday Kawamura," Inui and Tezuka said almost at the same time.

"Happy birthday Kawamura-senpai," Kaidou and Echizen said in a monotone while Momoshiro cheerfully shouted, "Happy birthday Taka-san!"

"Guys…" Kawamura started as he felt his eyes water, before Kikumaru gave him a slap on the back of his head.

"Don't cry Taka-san! It's your birthday and you don't want to have puffy eyes at homeroom now do you, nya?" Kikumaru asked with his usual cat-like grin.

Kawamura nodded as he looked on. His friends were smiling, he wasn't alone, they remembered! Well, maybe one of them did and he told the others – then again he didn't tell anyone his when his birthday was since Inui asked the first day of Jr. High…

He wiped his eyes and smiled, "Thank you, you guys…"

"You'll be late if you don't hurry, Kawamura," Tezuka said in his usual stern tone.

"Correction, _we'll _be late if we don't hurry, Tezuka," Inui corrected the captain of the Seigaku Tennis Club, receiving a glare in return.

Inui only did his creepy laugh.

--

Throughout the rest of the day, almost every tennis club member had gone up to Kawamura and wishing him a happy birthday. He had thanked them and smiled gratefully that someone had remembered – make that a whole club!!

A few teachers had even asked him to stay behind to speak with him about having a happy birthday and if he was late, they excused him.

Probably 'cause he had never been late before and that was the first time since a teacher had held him back to talk.

His 16th birthday had to be his happiest and most joyous.

By the time he had gotten to afternoon practice, they had skipped practice in order to celebrate his birthday. Everyone crowded in the clubroom, singing the traditional song off key and each had cake. Of course it wasn't as eventful as Kunimitsu's birthday but he still had fun.

As the time when they usually left for home came, everyone followed Kawamura to his sushi restaurant and celebrated a double – just for the regulars.

--

Later that night, as the restaurant was finally cleaned thanks to a few regulars, Kawamura laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

The party had been short and sweet but he still had tons of fun. He had received a lot of birthday wishes and a few presents from the tennis club members. Mostly grip tapes, tennis videos, and other tennis-related items. Some had considered his other hobby – karate and gotten him the outfit for it. Another had gotten him some sushi books with recipes inside.

He smiled and an arm rested over his forehead.

No, he wasn't alone. He had his friends by his side, he wouldn't forget them and they wouldn't forget him even if he would quit next year.

He wasn't alone…

**Author's Note: ** I just thought Kawamura needed some love. ((heart, heart)) And I guess some people feel that way on their birthdays too… If anyone's birthday is coming up, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! XDDD Once again, it's un-betaed.

1 - I suppose that Kawamura calls his dad in a formal way.

2 - I think Kawamura calls Fuji that. Not sure.

3 - English for "Il data…"

4 - Not sure how Kawamura calls Kikumaru – so I went by first name.

Next is our favorite acrobatic!!

Please tell me what you think of this fanfiction.


	3. Kikumaru Eiji

Happy Birthday

Chapter 3 – Kikumaru Eiji

_Nyaaaaaaa…_

Kikumaru Eiji yawned and stretched, cat-like indigo eyes opening and blinking out the last specks of sleeping sand. He rubbed them to get more out and glanced over at his calendar.

The 27th of November – tomorrow would be his birthday!! He grinned and jumped up – he couldn't wait until tomorrow!! But for now… He had to go get ready for school. He sat up quickly, throwing the covers off and stretching.

"EIJI!! BREAKFAST!!" he heard his sister call from below.

He jumped up, startled. Usually, he would be the one calling for his sisters to come down for breakfast, not the other way around. He turned to find the clock.

"NYA!!" he gasped and quickly grabbed his school uniform, towel and other necessities and ran into the bathroom. "BATHROOM!" he yelled to his sister downstairs so they knew what was keeping him.

Soon, his hair wet and gelled up, he slid down the railing of his stairs and dashed into the kitchen with his tennis bag and stuff.

"'Morning!" he greeted his sisters as he quickly gobbled down the Western breakfast and gulped down the milk and tea.

His sister smiled(1) and said, "Well, hurry up or you'll be late for school!"

He nodded and soon he was out the door.

"Happy birthday Eiji!"

He didn't hear.

--

"Da-da-da-daaaa!! Kikumaru Eiji is here for practice!!" Kikumaru grinned and shouted for the whole world to hear.

Kawamura smiled and nodded in return, "Hi Eiji, thanks for…you know…"

Kikumaru grinned and said, "It was no problem for Kikumaru Eiji, nya!" he then dashed off into the locker room to change.

"Oh… By the way Eiji, happy birthday…"

Kikumaru didn't hear.

--

Kikumaru grinned his usual cat-like smile. He didn't know why, he felt…_giddy_ today… He quickly pulled on his Seigaku jersey and then his pants. (Ever heard of "bottoms first?" XD)

He then grabbed his racket and skipped over to Oishi Syuichiro. "Oishii!!" he greeted with his usual added "I".

"Ah! Eiji!" Oishi greeted as he looked up from jotting something down. "You ready for morning practice?" he asked with his usual motherly smile.

Kikumaru nodded and said, "Mou… Though I feel a little happier, I don't know why…"

Oishi gave him a confused look and got up; the golden pair then started to walk out into the courts. Pushing the door open, Oishi and Kikumaru found themselves face-to-face with Tezuka lecturing Kawamura on tardiness.

"—and that's your second time—"

"Oishii!! Buchou's bullying Taka-san!"

"—20 laps for being late—"

"Help him Oishii!!"

"—You too Kikumaru—"

"U-Uh…Kunimitsu—"

"—some too, Oishi?

"Unya!! Taka-san!! Run away!"

Tezuka felt another headache coming and rubbed his temples.

"What's wrong Kunimitsu?" asked his concerned friend, Oishi who was ignoring his wild partner who was yelling at Kawamura to go and run.

"…Kikumaru…20 laps for being disruptive!" Tezuka suddenly bellowed as Eiji turned around with a shocked glance.

"Unya??!! Why me?" he asked, starting to pout.

"30 laps."

Kikumaru quickly ran off.

Oishi leaned over to Tezuka and whispered, "Should you really be giving out laps on his birthday?"

"It doesn't seem like he knows it's his birthday otherwise he'd be saying something about it," Tezuka replied with the same stoic face. (In other words, it's "What he doesn't know won't hurt him").

Oishi only sighed and wondered how his teammates could be so weird. (Even though he's weird himself!!)

--

Kikumaru sighed and continued to run. Why did he feel so…giddy today? He wondered to himself as he ran his 25th lap and started the 26th.

He shrugged it off and began to focus on running.

A sudden noise alarmed him that he was in dangers way of –

--A FLYING TENNIS BALL!!!

He ducked in time for the tennis ball to miss his head and glanced over to see who had thrown it or hit it.

A tall figure can running to him.

"I-I'm sorry Eiji-senpai," he said rubbing the back of his neck as if embarrassed, "I wasn't thinking straight and well… the aiming was off…" he continued and then looked to see that the ball had stuck itself in the fence.

Kikumaru grinned, "Well if it wasn't for my reflexes my head would have been cut off!"

"Eiji-senpai!"

Eiji laughed and waved a hand, "'Kidding, kidding!"

"Why are you running laps?" Momoshiro asked suddenly.

"Eh? 'Cause I annoyed Tezuka too much…" he pouted as he remembered the 4 more laps he had to do. At least it was less than 5 now…

"Why? Isn't it your b—" his question was cut off abruptly by a pale hand that slithered from behind.

"Ah, Momoshiro, what are you doing?" Fuji asked with the same usual smile on his face.

There was a muffled response and Fuji smiled before taking his hand off.

"I-I was just getting my tennis ball," he replied, totally forgetting about the earlier question.

"Ah, I see, well, back to practice," Fuji answered, "And Eiji?"

"Hm?"

"You still have 5 more laps to go."

Kikumaru wanted to protest but that would only earn him more laps from the captain so he groaned and continued his way.

Meanwhile Fuji hid a laugh.

--

By the time practice ended, Kikumaru was as tired as he could be. EXHAUSTED. As he entered the clubroom, he saw a couple of the other non-regular members walk by wishing him a "happy birthday".

Wait… "Happy birthday"?

Today wasn't his birthday.

Nevertheless, he grinned and thanked them for being a day earlier. That only earned him confused looks.

He shrugged those thoughts away as he pulled over his uniform for school. "Nya… It's so tiring to go to school… Why can't we just play tennis?"

"Ah but then where would we be?" Fuji asked, appearing out of nowhere once again.

"HOI!" Kikumaru yelled and jumped in surprised, "FUJIKO!! You scareddddd me!!" he whined.

Fuji chuckled and said, "Well, what happened to your cat-like reflexes?"

Kikumaru only tried to glare at Fuji but ended up only looking cuter.

"Maybe Kikumaru-senpai lost them to someone else…" a bored voice spoke up suddenly.

Kikumaru spun around and glomped the said person, "OCHIBI-CHANNNN!! WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN?!"

"Why are you glomping me when you said I'm mean?" Echizen Ryoma asked with the same disinterested look.

"UWAH!!" Kikumaru said, letting go of the boy and latching himself onto Fuji. "Fujiko!! Ochibi-chan is being meannnnnnnnnnnnn!!"

Fuji chuckled, "You should let go or we'll be late."

"Happy birthday Kikumaru-senpai."

That sentence came out of nowhere and almost inaudibly, that both Kikumaru and Fuji almost didn't hear.

"Eh? You too Ochibi-chan?" Kikumaru asked in the stillness of the three, blinking quite cutely, "You're a day early…"

"It's November 28th right?"

Kikumaru nodded slowly, giving Fuji the elbow when he snickered.

"That's today."

Kikumaru laughed quite hysterically while Echizen gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean it's today?" Kikumaru choked out, "Today is the 27th!"

Echizen shrugged and walked away, slipping his cap into his tennis bag.

It was Fuji's turn to laugh now, "E-Eiji! Today IS the 28th!"

Kikumaru felt blood rush to his cheeks.

"Nya…no way…"

--

So that's how his birthday went. Everyone else saying happy birthday to him with he didn't even notice or thought that they had the wrong date. However, now that he knew, he thanked them. By the time school ended, he found that his locker had been stuffed with many presents from fangirls.

He sighed and "nya"-ed as he wondered how to carry all the stuff home. He could just stuff it in his tennis bag but that would be a pain and plus… It would damage his rackets…

Ah! That was the perfect idea!! And it was a good thing it was food too. They must have assumed he liked food a lot. Well he did but that wasn't the point..

"Momo!!" he called from his locker, waving an arm to give the second year powerhouse a sign to where he was.

As if on cue, the tall Junior came walking, arms filled with bundles of snacks he had bought earlier for the ride home. "What's up, Eiji-senpai?" he asked as his gaze fell upon the stash of presents. "Whoa! That's a lot of present!" he commented as his eyes bulged out.

"Nya… It's too much for me so…"

Momoshiro looked up hopefully.

"So… would you mind taking it?"

Momoshiro grinned, "Su—"

"Of course, you pay for a month."

That wiped his grin off but he agreed nevertheless.

"Fine, but this is your birthday present then," Momoshiro answered with a dark and gloomy cloud over his head.

Kikumaru only grinned.

--

Kikumaru sighed and leaned back. They had gone to Kawamura's again – extra sushi and eel especially for him – he thought as he licked his lips remembering the wonderful taste.

Birthdays were birthdays – they only marked the date of a person's birth but it was so very important… To the person born… 'Cause it was the day they became …alive…

He grinned, remembering that he had thanked his team mates for all their presents. From Ochibi-chan's stuffed cat that looked very much like a certain familiar Himalayan to Oishi's photo albums of their first memories as the Golden Pair (he had been embarrassed when Kawamura crowded around and wanted to see it) to Sadaharu's strange love potions to Tezuka's book on new formations.

Birthdays were birthdays and they were always fun.

**Author's Note: **I rushed. I sorta got bored. XD Well, I hope that wasn't too boring of a chapter for you… Sorry if you get bored of Seigaku but I'm afraid I only know a couple of birthdays and if I did everyone then… OO! I would cram…

1 – I don't know how Eiji's sister is like so I'm making up her personality.

So yeah, please comment and tell me what you think.


	4. Echizen Ryoma

Happy birthday Yanagi Kotarou and Echizen Ryoma!! (Yanagi plays Echizen in the TeniMyu. His birthday is Dec. 23rd...I think...)

Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis – 'cause if I did, I would know how to draw the bodies… (Gosh that sounded weird…)

Chapter 4 – Echizen Ryoma

Several weeks had passed since Kikumaru Eiji's mini birthday party and Echizen Ryoma found himself lying on his bed, in the middle of December. He sighed, a frown creased on his forehead and wondered if any of his senpai would remember that today was his birthday.

What was he saying? Of course not! They were too busy enjoying long winter break and the cool, slushy feeling of snow. They were too busy celebrating the American holiday of Christmas…

He closed his eyes and let Karupin – his Himalayan cat – jump on him and settled down to rest on his chest – rising steadily up and down, breathing.

Feeling a bit warm all of a sudden, he pulled himself up, Karupin jumping off him and onto the ground where he gave a hissed at his owner and pillow and ran off downstairs for a place to sleep.

Echizen, however, quickly dressed into warm jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, grabbing his tennis bag on the way and quickly went downstairs, ignoring his father.

"Oi boy! Where are you going?" the perverted man asked of his son as he looked up unconcern from his "newspaper".

Echizen only gave him a look that said, "Shut up Oyaji or I'm going to tell 'Kaa-san about your magazines" or "I'm just going to ignore you so bye" and grabbed his jacket, putting it on quick and he was out the door by the time Echizen Nanjirou had looked up again.

He scratched his head.

"Now where did that boy go?"

--

Echizen frowned and tugged his scarf even closer to his body. Walking aimlessly in the soft snow, he found himself heading for a…park? He blinked, confused as to why he was even here, then shrugged and figured that if he was here already, why not stay a while?

So he took a seat on one of the swings and started to swing little by little…

Last year, he had been in the U.S… And though they celebrated Christmas and his birthday before… It didn't feel quite right… He frowned. At least his parents remembered… Wait, why would they forget anyways?

And his friends? He never bothered to make any… though a lot of girls came up to him and tried to start a conversation… The longest one had to have been at least five minutes and that was when she had asked him out… Jeez…

He closed his eyes and opened them slowly, staring at the soft white ground.

Hm… Was it just him or were things getting foggier? And why did his eyelids feel…heavier all of a sudden?

He yawned, unaware that a pair of sapphire eyes were watching him.

Ah, it seemed his body had decided to feel heavy all of a sudden, he thought as his grasp on the chains holding up the swings loosen.

Hm… That warm body felt good… Wait, warm body? He blinked, opening his eyes and all of a sudden wide awake.

"Nice of you to wake up, Echizen."

"F-Fuji-senpai!" Echizen exclaimed as he pulled himself up from being held up by his senpai. He was about to fall right into the snow face-first too!! He looked away, cheeks flushing from embarrassment. Wait, what was his senpai doing here?

"What are you doing here, Fuji-senpai?" he asked as soon as he calmed himself down.

He smiled, eyes lidded and said, "Just wanted to show you something…"

"Eh?" Echizen looked up, eyebrows creasing in confusion.

"Come on, I'll show you now," he said as he got up, brushing the snow off his pants and offering a hand to the freshmen.

Echizen only raised an eyebrow before taking the offered hand.

He soon found himself meeting the ground…

…with his senpai on top of him…

"Ah! Sorry Echizen, I must have slipped on some ice…" he apologized and explained as he got up once again and brushing the snow off. Echizen followed the same suit – not wanting it to happen again.

"Alright, what is it that you wanted to show me?" he asked, clearly impatient.

"Hold on, hold on, ah! Follow me!" Fuji said as he started walking in a random direction.

Echizen followed silently behind. It had been around lunchtime when he left and now it was getting later – plus the sun was setting sooner nowadays…

Lost in thought, he bumped into his still senpai.

"Uh… Fuji-senpai?" he asked questioningly as he raised an eyebrow to inquire what was going on.

"Look Echizen!" Fuji answered, raising a hand to point to where the sun was setting.

Indeed it was setting, beautiful hues of orange, red and yellow overtook the sky as well as the dark midnight blues, purples and light dancing pinks. A light green washed over the colors almost like creating a rainbow. (1)

"Happy birthday, Echizen."

For the first time that day, Echizen smiled.

"Ah! And Echizen, that's not all your present…" Fuji replied as he turned around, grabbed Echizen's wrist and started to drag him elsewhere.

"Eh?!"

--

"Ta-daaa!!" Fuji said with a smile as he waved his arms in effect as they appeared in front of Kawamura's Sushi Store.

"Senpai…"

"Aww… Echizen, you don't need to thank me!"

"You don't need to do special effects…"

Echizen sighed and slid the door open and was met by the usual voices of the Seigaku regulars yelling "Happy Birthday!"

Actually, Echizen hadn't been expecting that. What he had been expecting was a Christmas party of some sort. And that he was just attending it… Well, maybe it had been a bit obvious…

He smiled but it quickly vanished as Fuji pushed him in and he was met by Kikumaru's customary hugs.

"Itai!! Kikumaru-senpai!" he yelled in protest as he struggled to get freed.

"Nuh-uhhh!! I'm not letting go for 13 minutes!! You're 13 now!! NYA!" he grinned.

"What?!" Echizen nearly screamed, "13 minutes?! That's too long!" he protested as he kept struggling.

"Well, I thought that 13 seconds was too short...nya…" Kikumaru pouted as he kept the hug up.

"I give up…" Echizen said almost inaudibly as his arms laid limp beside him.

"That's much better!" Kikumaru said in agreement, and hugged him even tighter.

"E-Eiji! If you keep that up, he'll run out of air!" Oishi Syuichiro said as he waved his arms about, acting like the usual mother hen.

There was a sudden click and everything – everyone went silent.

"Ah, that was a nice picture…" Fuji smiled and replied as he lowered the offending item.

"FUJIKO-CHANNNN!!"

"Fuji-senpai!!!"

"F-Fujiii!!"

"Why is everyone calling my name?"

Tezuka Kunimitsu sighed from the corner of the room and slapped his forehead. Why did it feel like the next hour would feel like a day?

--

As the party began, streamers were flown off due to the chasing that Kikumaru and Momoshiro gave while Kikumaru was scolding his kouhai for not thinking of his senpai and letting them have the eel sushi.

Echizen sighed as he found himself wandering towards the back of the store – near a corner. Sitting in the corner table was Ryuuzaki Sakuno – he blinked – what was she doing here? Oh, maybe Ryuuzaki-sensei had invited her?

He walked over, nodded in a greeting just to be polite and sat down in a table nearby.

She blushed from who knows what and replied, "H-Hello Ryoma-kun… H-Happy birthday…"

He jumped from his seat and nodded his thanks, noticing that Inui had already come in and hiding under the sushi bar's table with his usual notebook. He growled, couldn't someone have some privacy?

"Thanks…" he mumbled quite shyly as he felt her get closer. "Um… Merry Christmas…" he said in response, trying to break the awkward silence.

She looked surprise for a minute and meekly looked down. "Thanks, you too Ryoma-kun…"

This was awkward…

"OCHIBI-CHANNNN!!" came Kikumaru's voice as Echizen found himself being glomped for what seem like the millionth time but was really only about seven. "That's seven!! Six more to go!" Kikumaru said, proudly as he let go of the poor boy.

Echizen mumbled something under his breath that sounded very much like, "Evil senpai-tachi" and stuffed his mouth with more sushi.

"A-Ah… Echizen, want some more sushi?" Kawamura offered as he held out a tray of various sushi for Echizen to choose.

Echizen nodded in thanks and took a couple. He couldn't turn down free food after all, could he?

Meanwhile, Fuji leaned against the wall next to Tezuka. "Ne Tezuka…" he called as he looked over at his captain, "What do you think of Echizen and Ryuuzaki-chan getting together?"

There wasn't a reply at first until Tezuka croaked out a, "He can choose what he wants and who he wants to be with as long as it doesn't effect his tennis."

Fuji opened his eyes and smiled. "You really are too kind… But you think so much about tennis… What about me? What would you think of me getting together with someone?" he asked, smiling very warmly.

Tezuka didn't answer this time and was glad that Inui had intervened with his notebook in hand.

"There is a 97 percent chance of Ryuuzaki-sensei's granddaughter and Echizen getting together however Echizen, being Echizen, that brings it down about 30 percent. There is also a 100 percent chance that Ryuuzaki-sensei's granddaughter likes Echizen and an 89 percent chance that Echizen likes her back," he muttered to himself as Tezuka and Fuji caught onto what he was saying.

"And what about Tezuka?" Fuji asked, closing his eyes.

Inui looked up, lifting the bridge of his glasses with a finger and said, "I have yet to collect enough data on Tezuka so I am currently unable to answer. Now…if you'll excuse me, let me collect data on the Golden Pair's behavior towards each other…" He then left as soon as he came.

"Strange… I still can't figure out why he's in the tennis club and not the science or math club…" Fuji replied as he watched the tall male walk away and headed towards his "hiding spot".

"…"

"No answer Tezuka?" Fuji asked as he looked over at the captain.

"I'm going to get more tea…" he answered and excused himself.

"Ah… Alright then…"

--

The chatter filled the whole restaurant as the small hand ticked closer towards the seven indicating that it was getting later and was almost seven. Fuji Syuusuke smiled as he got up from his current seat and decided that everyone needed to hear this. He took out a mug of tea and a pair of chopsticks and tapped on it for attention.

"Attention! Atobe Keigo will be holding a New Year's party and of course have invited us so we are to all attend. That is all," he announced and sat down, oblivious to all the stares of wonder he was receiving.

"Fuji," came Tezuka's voice as he walked closer towards the smiling prodigy. "When did you learn of this?" Already, he had heard of the party however, he did not plan to attend. But now that Fuji had announced to everyone that he was attending… He couldn't take back his words even if they were spoken by someone else…

Fuji only smiled and said, "Well… Atobe-kun phoned me a couple days ago and informed me about it. He's also inviting the other tennis teams – it'll be fun!"

Tezuka could only inwardly groan. He stared at the second singles player with a look that clearly questioned if Fuji had been drinking and said, "Well, it's time we wrapped up for the night – it's getting late…"

Fuji nodded and noticed that already Echizen had begun packing up his tennis bag with the presents that they had given him earlier.

A stuffed cat that looked like that Himalayan from Kikumaru; a Japanese cookbook from Kawamura; three months without paying for burgers thanks to Momoshiro and a book on doubles from Oishi. A new tennis grip from Tezuka; a weird looking thing that looked very similar to a cat toy from Kaidou; an assortment of bath salts from Inui and a CD of rock music for "relaxing" from Fuji.

The others were trying to persuade him to play video games with them – Oishi trying to stop it all.

"Quiet!" Tezuka's voice rang out and silence soon followed.

"Buchou, I have to go…" Echizen's usual bored-like voice spoke up as soon as he heard the silence. "My parents want me to go somewhere…," he explained as he zipped up his tennis bag.

"Ah." Tezuka's one-word reply was heard and soon Echizen was out the door.

"Nya… What's a birthday party without the birthday boy?" came Kikumaru's disappointed voice.

"I'm sure you'll get a chance to finish up that 13 hugs of yours, Eiji," Fuji said smiling.

"Of course nya!"

--

Echizen ran; glad to get away from his senpai even for a little while. Looks like he'll be seeing them at the New Year's party… he thought with a sigh and adjusted the strap of his tennis bag.

He smiled, thinking back to the party. That had…been certainly surprising though a bit…expected?

He was glad his senpai had remembered though… But how had Inui-senpai known that he liked testing out bath salts? He asked himself as he remembered the look on the said senpai's face when he opened it.

Well, that was one thing he'd be using. (Unless it had been meddled with of course.) The stuffed cat too – he would use that whenever he didn't have Karupin with him. He flushed slightly at the thought of using a stuffed cat to sleep with.

He was still a kid and kids do what kids do… Okay, well preteen now.

It felt weird…to be a preteen. His smile grew wider as he continued, "Hm… Senpai-tachi certainly know how to throw a party…"

He only wished he had met them a year earlier.

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry if anyone was OOC but I really tried. ((sighs)) I have forgotten how it feels like to be thirteen even though it was a year and some ago… XD My sister is thirteen though!! YAY! Alright…notes…

1 – Have you ever seen the sunset? It is really beautiful! Though I think the sunrise is much more beautiful… I wake up early for school so by the time I get there, the sun's rising and all and…wow… The colors are so vibrant and YOU JUST HAVE TO SEE IT!!

((sweat drop)) Sorry, I'm getting excited over the sunsets and sunrises… I'm sorry Ryoma's chapter is so short! But I really couldn't think! I'm not bashing him or anything! He's actually my favorite character!

Please tell me what you think.

Oh and a New Year's special is up next if I can finish re-writing it in time. ;.; Thank you for the 1000 hits and have an awesome Christmas!! (and if you don't celebrate it, then happy holidays!)


	5. New Year's Party

** WARNING OF SHONEN AI. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT, TURN AWAY NOW.  
**

Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 5 – New Year's

Echizen Ryoma stood in front of the beautifully (in other people's opinion) decorated door, long red and green ribbons were weaving in and out the window and framed the wooded door. He raised an eyebrow – it was a New Year's party, not a Christmas party…

He sighed. He **did not** want to be here, yet he knew he would pay dearly if he had not shown up curtsy of Fuji Syuusuke, the resident third year prodigy. A hand reached out and hovered over the glass doorknob. Heh, Monkey King even had to brag about his wealth by buying the most expensive doorknob there was?

He hesitated. Maybe he could just turn back, call them and tell them that has a cold? That could work… Yeah, he thought nodding to himself inwardly and was about to turn back when he heard a voice call out his name.

"Echizen-kun! Nice to see you here," Seigaku's resident prodigy said with a smile as he made his way up the path to the door of the mansion. Dressed in a warm jacket and jeans, the prodigy did look like any other ordinary teenager – however that image was ruined once you got to know him, Echizen thought with a shudder.

"Fuji-senpai," Echizen greeted the older boy with a nod. "You're…late…" he said quite blandly and dully.

Fuji chuckled and held up a tray that was covered with foil. "Atobe-kun asked me to make a cake and bring it in," he explained, smile still stuck on his face.

Echizen nodded in understanding and thought with a shudder that he wouldn't want to have a piece and might as well desert the whole idea of eating. "T-That was very nice of you, Fuji-senpai," he commented.

The prodigy chuckled once again. "Saa… What are we waiting for?" he asked, nudging the younger boy to open the door.

The younger boy blinked confusedly and with a sigh, rang the doorbell. It seemed as if there was a sudden "hush" and footsteps behind the door came pounding up.

The door opened and Echizen found himself face–to-face with Atobe Keigo's "servant", Kabaji Munehiro. The gigantic tennis player stepped aside for the two Seigaku players to come inside. Echizen noted vaguely, that the music had started up again as did the chatter.

"Ah! Echizen-kun, look up," came Fuji's voice. Wait, wasn't his voice a little too loud? And… Did it get warmer? Echizen frowned and noticed that Fuji had gotten closer to him when they were getting in and now, both were standing underneath the doorway.

Wait… Look up? Why did everything suddenly feel as if they've turned for the worst? Echizen thought and then, noted once again that the chatter had stopped and the occupants of the room turned to stare in their direction.

Echizen looked up.

Hm… Why was a mistletoe up there? It could have been elsewhere… It wasn't Christmas though… Wait, Fuji was right next to him…

Oh **shit**.

"Fuji-senpai…" Echizen started, looking a tiny bit afraid now. The senpai looked really amused and pretty…happy about it. Wait, did that mean that the senpai wanted to kiss him? Wait, did the senpai know about this?

"Saa… Ryoma-kun, stay still…" Fuji replied with a smile as he reached over and gently caressed Echizen's cheek with his hand. Echizen flinched at the gesture.

"What are you doing Fuji-senpai?" he demanded to know. Gosh, he was having a hard time keeping his voice from squeaking.

"You have such soft skin…" Fuji whispered and leaned down for the taking. His lips softly touched Echizen's for a second before he moved onto the neck and pressed down lightly.

Needless to say, Echizen wouldn't be eating anything for a while nor would he be able to look his senpai in the eye.

Atobe, who was standing quite close to the door, but not enough to earn himself a kiss, started to clap. "That was simply magnificent! Quite a show, perfect as always Fuji-san," he complimented, "however, you could have teased him more. **I** would have done so." He smirked.

The chatter went on, the Hyoutei players ignored the two in the doorway since they were the only ones in that room at that time. Of course, both Fuji and Echizen hadn't noticed that Tezuka Kunimitsu had seen and was making his way towards the bathroom…

Echizen stumbled in, looking a bit dazed. He covered his mouth as if he had had it contaminated. "F-Fuji-senpai!!" he yelled, in a scolding-like tone, "W-What was that for?"

"There was a mistletoe, Echizen," Fuji simply replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why the neck?" Echizen asked, getting right to the point.

"Eh? What was wrong with that? I thought it was good… Besides… You have a slender neck… And it'll teach you to wear a scarf," Fuji continued, pushing Echizen out of the cold and into the living room. "Now get in, you'll catch a cold."

Echizen only flushed slightly at the tone his senpai was using and from embarrassment. "I can walk in myself…," he mumbled as he snatched himself away from the devious senpai and started to walk towards the refreshments.

Fuji, too, walked in, closing the door behind him and smiled. That had been fun… He then noticed that Inui had arrived as did Kaidou and Momoshiro. The two second years were both in the kitchen, helping set up some food while Shishido Ryou from Hyoutei sat on the couch next to Ohtori Choutarou. Both seemed to be chatting about something.

Fuji continued to surveyed the room. There was Hiyoshi Wakashi standing near the refreshments. Apparently, he too, got caught under the mistletoe with one of the tallest Hyoutei members (Ohtori) and had gotten a yelling at by his (Ohtori's) doubles partner.

Mukahi Gakuto and Oshitari Yuushi were standing in a corner, in a deep conversation. By the way Mukahi kept blushing, Fuji was sure it was something that wasn't meant to be talked amongst them right now.

The living room was big, Fuji now noticed, enough to fill a couple of tennis teams full. Wow… That was big… It was then that he noticed Kikumaru Eiji and Oishi Syuichiro walking out of the kitchen, carrying trays of food too. Ah perhaps, they had been helping out.

Fuji walked over to the refreshments and noticed that both Hiyoshi and Echizen scooted away from him. He wondered why… Fuji quickly set the tray down and undid the cover.

The cake! Decorated with layers of chocolate frosting, it held the words "Happy New Years!" in neat kanji on it. The inside was also chocolate with a thin layer of vanilla crème.

There was another doorbell and Atobe snapped his fingers just as the living room went silent once again. Were there two people? If there were, who were they?

Kabaji only nodded and went over to open the door. The door opened to reveal…

…Sanada Genchirou and Yukimura Seiichi of Rikkai?

What were they doing here?

Yukimura smiled and walked in slowly while Sanada followed protectively. Fuji smiled and walked over to the pair.

"Look up," he said with a smile, a bit of a distance away so he wouldn't be caught under it.

Tezuka, who had appeared out of nowhere, had turned Echizen around so he wouldn't have to watch. This, to his dismay, didn't work seeing as Echizen actually wanted to see the two Rikkai players kiss. Especially since he defeated one of them…

The capped male looked up first and was startled to find that there was a mistletoe – a _mistletoe_ of all things – hung above his head.

"Y-Yukimura…" he stuttered out. The feminine boy only smiled and leaned in. He gave the startled boy a quick kiss on the lips and backed away, licking his lips.

"Did you eat something sweet or are you lips always sweet?" the blue haired male asked, teasingly as he continued to walk in.

Sanada's cheeks tinged a bit pink and followed the captain of Rikkai inside, looking around.

"Seigaku?" he asked, noticing Fuji, Echizen, Tezuka standing there and Kikumaru, Oishi and Momoshiro chasing each other.

Tezuka gave the vice captain a nod of acknowledgement and said, "Sanada of Rikkai." He then turned to look at the captain, giving him a nod too, "Yukimura of Rikkai."

The other captain only smiled and said, "Ah, Tezuka of Seigaku. Long time no see… I heard your injury is fine now?"

Tezuka only replied with a monotonous voice, "Ah."

Echizen's eye twitched at his captain's lack of conversation skills. Not that he could talk…

A sudden knock on the door brought the room's occupant's attention over to it. Kabaji walked over to the door and opened it.

"Mizuki-senpai! Why--? ANIKI!" a voice from outside in the snow shouted as the group froze.

"Ah Yuuta," Fuji calmly replied as he walked over to the group.

"Why hello there Fuji-kun, it's nice to see you again," a certain purple-wearing person said as he ran a hand through his black hair. He held out a hand. "I'll—"

"Um… I'm sorry, but… who are you again?" Fuji tactfully replied with the most innocent expression a person could ever put on.

A vein popped from Mizuki Hajime's head but he calmly tried to repress it. "I—" Only to be interrupted again.

"What's the hold up dane?" Yanagisawa Shinya's voice suddenly was heard as he pushed towards the front of the door.

Bumping into their manager…

…and under the mistletoe…

…of course, they didn't know that yet…

"Look up," Fuji said, smiling as though his birthday was this year.

Both St. Rudolph residents looked up and Fuji Yuuta slapped his forehead.

"PUCKER UP!"

"N-NOOOOOOO!!"

Thud.

"I think he just died…"

Fuji smirked. Tezuka sighed.

From behind a potted plant, Inui scribbled in his notebook muttering something about data.

Atobe smirked. "Ore-sama's party is the greatest, ne Kabaji?"

"Yeah."

--

Echizen Ryoma frowned as he stood, watching Sanada Genchirou bend down to execute a perfect shot.

Fuji had suggested that they play a game of pool so that boredom did not catch up to them. Of course, he had told the Seigaku first year to stay around the refreshment table so that he could go around ask a couple of other tennis players to see if they wanted to play.

They – rather he – managed to round up five… Including them…

"Echizen-kun, it's your turn," Fuji's voice awoke him out of his thoughts as he handed him a pool stick. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Echizen muttered as he bent over the table to shoot the little white ball.

All of a sudden, the hair on the back of his neck started to stand up… What was this…feeling? This strange feeling of being stared at…in places you wouldn't normally be stared at…?

Brushing off any of those thoughts, he quickly pushed the stick in and the white ball connected with a blue one.

"Ah, buchou…" Echizen started as he handed his pool stick over to the solemn captain. There were only three pool sticks and five of them so they had to share.

Tezuka nodded his thanks and took the stick, bending over.

It was then that Echizen finally realized why he had been feeling strange when it had been his turn.

All of them – Sanada, Fuji and Atobe were staring at Tezuka with a strange glint in their eyes…

…right at Tezuka-buchou's ass!!

He blinked and rubbed his eyes. Opening them, he found that the trio's eyes had reverted back to watching Tezuka's movement instead.

Maybe it had been a hallucination…

--

"Where's Tezuka?" Tachibana Kippei of Fudoumine asked as he flipped through the magazine that lied in from of him.

Kamio Akira shrugged and moved his knight in an "L" shape, taking away a black pawn. "I don't know… Somewhere… Your move Shinji."

The dark eyes of the second year Fudoumine genius scanned the chessboard before reaching out and moved his bishop. "Maybe he's out taking a walk. That Tezuka Kunimitsu sure is strange. But he is strong in tennis. I wonder if there'll ever be a chance when I can go up against him. I'd like to see what he'd do against my 'Spot'. Maybe he's also like Echizen? And maybe he can switch hands? I wonder… I—"

"Shinji!" Kamio shouted as he pulled out an earphone. "I can still hear you from this music!"

Ibu Shinji only muttered something under his breath and watched as Fudoumine's speed demon move his rook into a compromising position.

"Checkmate."

Ibu stared at the chessboard, processing his loss. "Why did I lose? I wonder about that? Why couldn't I win? This is probably the sixth time we've played and I keep losing… And Kamio says he's never played before? I wonder if he lied. No, he would never. I know him and he'd never lie. He's honest. Unlike that Yamabuki guy who keeps lying. Though I wonder why he would lie –"

"Shinji…"

"Rematch?" Ibu asked then, clearing the board. "I'm hoping for a rematch. I really want to try and beat Kamio. Even though he's my friend but what if he thinks this is getting boring and he going to lose just so I can be happy? That's not nice then. I want to win on my own. Without any help. I want to—"

"FINE!"

Tachibana chuckled from behind his magazine.

--

"Ah, I see you guys have been busy…" a voice from the door was heard as the five looked up from their game of pool.

"Yukimura," Sanada greeted as the others nodded in acknowledgement.

The feminine captain smiled and placed a tray he had been holding on a table nearby. "I brought some drinks. I thought you might have been thirsty…"

"Thank you Yukimura," Sanada replied as he absentmindedly handed his pool stick over to Fuji and took a cup from the tray. Tipping his head back slightly, he brought the cup to his lips and drank it.

"I also brought the others some too…" Yukimura added.

Walking over to the two, Fuji smiled and took a cup too. "Thank you Yukimura-san." Nudging Echizen who was grumbling over his loss earlier, he took another cup and handed it to Echizen. "Here, drink…"

Still grumbling, Echizen nodded his thanks and took a sip. He blinked. It tasted…a bit funny… He stared at the cup, it wasn't… Inui juice was it?! He shook his head, of course not. If it was, he'd be in the bathroom by now…

By now, both Atobe and Tezuka were taking drinks from their cups now.

"Ore-sama thanks you," Atobe said as soon as he finished downing his cup. Yukimura smiled and said:

"Mind if I join your game?"

Fuji smiled and said, "Saa… Let's see… We have three pool sticks and there are six of us now… That's perfect! I'll share with Echizen-kun. Tezuka can share with Atobe-kun and Yukimura-san can share with Sanada-kun."

"What?! Ore-sama share? NEVER!"

"…" was Tezuka's response.

Echizen grumbled as he took another sip.

"That's it! Ore-sama declares a dance competition!"

Everyone pointedly ignored him and went onto their game.

--

Echizen Ryoma couldn't believe that this was actually happening… The Seigaku team stood on one side of the stage while Hyoutei stood on the other, leaving a large open space in between them. Unlit lights were hung up on the ceiling and… He turned to face the front, there was actually an audience…

The audience was actually the other schools, wanting to see Seigaku and Hyoutei dance. Yes, dance… Atobe actually got what he declared…

On other side, Atobe smirked and crossed her arms. He then walked up into the open space, meeting the Seigaku captain halfway.

"Tezuka."

"Atobe."

Their faces got closer and Echizen felt like puking. Of course, both teams knew that they were only discussing who should be the judge… Someone who wasn't on either of their teams…

"Ah, I'll judge!" a fragile voice was heard as the owner appeared behind the two captains.

Tezuka and Atobe turned and immediately, Yukimura Seiichi, captain of Rikkai, was voted the judge.

"It'll work…"

Both captains walked back to their teams. Atobe motioned to Gakuto Mukahi and Akutagawa Jirou to get in the open space.

The two players nodded and stood in position. Music started and the audience watched in fascination as the two players danced in unison. Had Atobe planned this?!

Left… right… Jump…

Soon, the dance had ended, leaving the two players breathing heavily. From the audience, Tachibana smiled and fingered his chin. This was getting interesting…already…

Tezuka frowned… They were really good, he hadn't really been expecting this level… He'd have to take _them_ out… He looked up and gestured over to Fuji and Kikumaru.

"Fuji! Kikumaru!"

The dream pair nodded at their captain and stood in the once again open space. The music started, this time with words.

Echizen watched with wide eyes. He never knew that they had dancers on their tennis team…

Step left, step right, jump, tug… (1)

"OI!" Echizen shouted as he felt a pair of hands covering his eyes.

"You're too young to see Echizen… Too young…"

Recognizing the voice as Momoshiro, Echizen tried to pry his large hands off. "Momo-senpai!" he complained, "I'm only a year younger than you!!"

Hearing a very loud "Ooooh!" from the audience only made Echizen want to see what was happening even more.

"Not yet Echizen…" Momoshiro murmured.

The audience clapped wildly and Echizen blinked and found himself able to see once again. Though, Seigaku's dance had ended.

Yukimura smiled from his podium. "I declare Seigaku the winner!"

Atobe twitched and Tezuka closed his eyes in approval.

As the audience scattered, looking for tissues to wipe their nosebleeds away, the two rival captains shook hands.

A long night indeed…

--

Tezuka Kunimitsu leaned against the edge of the balcony, feeling the cool air brushing against his cheek. He rubbed his temples, feeling a slight headache coming. Inwardly groaning, he planned to give his team ten laps for making him come here…

"Tezuka."

His eyes flickered over towards the new occupant of the balcony and nodded in acknowledgement at the Hyoutei captain.

"Headache?" Atobe asked, smirking slightly.

"Ah."

Tezuka felt a fist on his shoulder and he glanced at Atobe questioningly.

"Headache medicine. Kami-sama knows how much they are useful. Use them. I have plenty," Atobe explained as Tezuka slowly grasped the box.

"Atobe. Thank you," Tezuka thanked him as he took out the box.

Smirking, Atobe nodded and got up from his position next to the Seigaku captain. "Fun game ne?"

"More like a disaster."

Atobe's smirk became wider and he gestured over towards the door. "Your brat's here." He turned and walked inside, leaving Echizen glaring at the "Monkey King".

"What were you talking about with Monkey King, Buchou?" Echizen asked as he walked over to his captain.

"Headache," was Tezuka's simple reply.

"Ah…" Echizen answered, blinking. He turned and smirked, "Team's here."

"Stop stomping on my foot Mamushi!"

"Stop shouting Momoshiro!!!"

"Now, now you two…" Oishi's motherly voice came, trying to separate the fighting pair.

Tezuka sighed and felt his headache come back again.

Kawamura glanced at their captain worriedly and walked over, "Tezuka? You alright?"

"Ah."

The third year power player only replied, "Well, think of it this way. At least you aren't alone."

Tezuka's eyes snapped open at the odd comment. Inwardly smiling, he thanked the third year. "Ah, you're right."

"OI! Lookie nya! It's almost New Year!" Kikumaru shouted as he glanced at his watch. Momoshiro followed the same suit.

"Eiji-senpai is right! There's…"

"5"

"Momoshiro, look to your right."

"4"

"Eh? Why Fuji-senpai?"

"3"

"Just do it."

"2"

"AHHH!! MAMUSHI!"

"1"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

**Author's Note:** Happy new years guys! Sorry about the lame ending. I forgot what I had put in between the numbers… If you didn't know, my laptop crashed and I lost the file containing this finished chapter. Thank goodness I had backed this up. Although, it wasn't the finished file, it was still better than nothing because I really didn't want to write the whole thing over. So please forgive me for the horribleness…

1 – Have you seen Dream Live? You should! Anyways, I got the dance competition from the Dream Live the 3rd. It was very funny. Oh and the dance competition part? The link is in my profile. Happy New Years!!

Oh my god. I am updating this at 12 in the morning on New Years. Oo

And so... Comments? Thoughts? Advice? Review!


	6. Fuji Syuusuke

**Author's Note:** For the benefit of the readers, Fuji Syuusuke will referred as "Fuji" whilst his sister as "Yumiko" and his brother as "Yuuta". His parents are briefly mentioned. 

Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 6 – Fuji Syuusuke

It was the day in which everyone looked forward to. Fuji Syuusuke was no exception. Although… He was the unlucky child to be born on the last day of February – on leap year too. Meaning, this year, he wouldn't really be having a birthday.

But… Fuji Syuusuke stood in his room, adjusting the black uniform that Seigaku male students had to wear, that didn't stop him from happily celebrating it. With his teammates. Inwardly, he smiled at his teammates-soon-to-be-suffering faces but on the outside, he had the same serene smile.

"Syuusuke!" Fuji Yumiko's voice called from downstairs as if warning him that he should be getting down by now.

Fuji smiled at his sister's thoughtfulness, grabbed his tennis bag and began making his way downstairs. "Yes 'Nee-san!" he answered his sister's call. Setting down the tennis bag next to the doorway, he walked into the kitchen, glancing briefly at the time.

"Ah, Syuusuke!" Yumiko greeted, "Good morning and happy birthday," she smiled as she set down a plateful of spicy food. "I made your favorite."

Fuji smiled – since when was he _not_ smiling? – once again and thanked her, "Thank you 'Nee-san. Itadakimasu," he whispered under his breath just before he started to eat. (1)

"So what do you want to do this year?" Yumiko asked as she set down another plate, this time for herself. Pulling out a chair, she sat down and too, started to eat.

"Ah… Let's see… I don't know…" he confessed as he continued to eat.

"What? But it's your birthday!" Yumiko chuckled at her brother's response. It was the same every year. He wouldn't know what to do on his birthday.

Fuji swallowed the last of his breakfast and picked up his milk. "Now 'Nee-san… It's technically not my birthday," he replied as he downed the milk and set the glass down. He glanced at the clock once again, grabbing his bag on the way, he quickly bide his sister bye.

"Itakimasu!" (2)

--

Kikumaru Eiji eyed the tennis clubroom wildly, glancing around to as if he was hiding from someone. Of course, then again, he was sitting in a bush next to the school. He turned his head to look over to his right, no one, that was good at least…

Releasing out a sigh of relief, his head spun around to his left at the sound of a voice and he choked, surprised.

"Ah, Eiji-senpai what are you doing here?"

Kikumaru's eyes widened and he lunged at his "predator", hands covering the mouth as if he didn't want to be discovered.

"F-Fujiko—I--!" Kikumaru stammered out, only to realize that the one whom he had lunged at was not the sadistic prodigy of the team, but the second year power house of the team. "Ah, it's only you Momo…" He let out another sigh.

Momoshiro got up after Kikumaru released him, spitting out grass that had somehow gotten into his mouth and glared at his senpai. "Eiji-senpai, what do you mean it's only me? Were you hiding from someone?"

Kikumaru nodded, eyes squeezing shut as if he was afraid to look up, expecting to see the person whom he had been hiding from there. "Fujiko-chan nya…" he replied almost inaudibly.

"Why Fuji-senpai?" Momoshiro asked, raising an eyebrow. Sure the prodigy could be very sadistic at times and downright scary but what was so wrong about that? He was always like that, there was no difference…

"Today's his birthday…" Kikumaru replied, crossing his fingers. "And you know what that means…"

Momoshiro paled considerably and whispered, "Oh no… I must have forgotten to check the calendar…"

"What's going on?"

The two hyperactive tennis players looked up to see the silhouette of their team captain. Immediately, both stood up from behind the bushes and apologized.

"I'm sorry Buchou! You see--!"

"—It was all his fault! Really! If you don't believe me—"

"Enough. Twenty laps both of you," Tezuka Kunimitsu commanded, rubbing his temples now that the two had left. Of course he had overheard what they were talking about… Fuji's birthday…

If anyone who didn't know Tezuka, they wouldn't know that in the dictionary of Tezuka-expressions, that the one the captain was currently wearing meant that even he had paled.

Yes, the captain of Seigaku had paled in his own way.

All because of Fuji's birthday.

--

Practice had already started and Fuji was nowhere to be seen. The freshmen were picking up balls left astray from their senpai's matches while the regulars battled to stay at the top so that they wouldn't have to drink that disgusting potion Inui called juice.

Kikumaru glanced around nervously as he continued to hit a rally with his double partner – Oishi Syuichiro. But then again, it couldn't really be called a rally since Kikumaru kept getting outs and Oishi kept frowning at his partner, worrying what could have caused him to be so distracted.

"Kikumaru!" Tezuka's voice was heard as the shout nearly deafen many ears. Kikumaru cringed – he knew that sound. It was the tone in which Tezuka always used before giving laps. "20 laps for not paying attention!" he called and Kikumaru felt disheartened as he dropped his racket at a nearby bench and started to run his laps.

Echizen Ryoma frowned as he brought down his can of Ponta. Turning to his nearest senpai, Momoshiro Takeshi – the second year powerhouse – he asked, "What's wrong with Kikumaru-senpai today?"

Momoshiro only stared at the first year regular member as if he had grown another head before remembering that he was a first year – and therefore did not know what Fuji Syuusuke did on his birthday. Heck, who knew if **any** of the first years knew…

Opening his mouth to reply, he was interrupted by the feet-on-heels Tezuka. "Momoshiro, Echizen, there is no dawdling in my practice," he told the two as if warning them. Without another word, he turned around and left to supervise the practice leaving the two with pale faces.

Having their captain breathing down their necks and ordering laps was something they'd rather not do…

"Ah, what's everyone doing?" a voice called from where the gates opened into the practice area. All of the second years and third year's fears became true as the source of that fear stepped into the tennis courts.

Fuji Syuusuke…

It was as if all the tennis club members were either in awe of the tennis prodigy all of a sudden or maybe it was the fact that they were all scared at what he might do on his birthday. A cool breeze blew across the tennis courts and Fuji stepped in, normal as ever, tennis bag on his shoulder, Seigaku uniform on and the same smile that fitted his features.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" he asked curiously.

Kikumaru had just finished only half his laps, froze and looked horrified at his best friend. Having been running around along the outside of the fence and Fuji inside, the prodigy's back was to the acrobatic. "F-Fujiko-chan!" he exclaimed without realizing he had.

Quickly, he clamped a hand over his mouth and cursed himself for his big mouth. Fuji turned around and smiled at his friend, "What is it Eiji?" he asked cheerfully. All _too _cheerfully…

Kikumaru gaped at his friend for a minute before gulping and replied, "N-Nya, Fujiko-chan, w-why were you l-late nya?" he asked, trying to keep in stutters inaudible. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

Echizen frowned at his senpai's behaviors. This was too different – they were best friends! So why was Kikumaru stuttering and acting as if he was scared of the Seigaku prodigy? Then again, Fuji easily scared many when he was…

Oh… Echizen noted with sudden realization. Kikumaru must have hurt something or someone of Fuji's and now was in trouble… Deciding to shrug it off as it wasn't his problem, he picked up his can of Ponta and continued his way towards the wall to practice hitting.

"Ah… Echizen-kun…" a voice from in front of him shook him out of his thoughts.

Echizen looked up, eyes as apathetic as ever and the white cap covering part of his eyes. "What is it Fuji-senpai?" he asked, causing some second and third years to gasp.

"Do you know what day it is today?" Fuji asked, a strange glint appeared on his cheeks. Though Echizen could have sworn it was just the sun's direction today.

The first year Seigaku regular blinked, "Ah… It's February 28th…" he replied confused. What did the date have to do with how everyone was acting?

Fuji smiled. It was a strange smile that Echizen had only seen once before – the same smile in which Fuji wore when he had been going up against Kirihara – only this time, Echizen was the one being faced with this smile.

"That's correct Echizen-kun, my birthday's on the 29th but since there's no 29th this year, would you like to come with me after school?" he asked, tilting his head to one side, as if acting innocent.

Echizen cast a glance over at the other members. Tezuka was talking to Oishi about some training so they weren't paying attention to the two; Momoshiro and Kikumaru – however – had pale faces as if all the blood had been drained away by a pair of vampires.

He raised an eyebrow. Momoshiro and Kikumaru were acting stranger than usual… Kawamura was talking to Inui about something and Kaidou… His eyes widened, even Kaidou looked pale as he watched them.

Should he accept or not? Turning back to face his sadistic senpai, he answered, "Senpai, I'm busy today. Some other time?"

From behind Fuji, Momoshiro and Kikumaru let out audible sighs of relief. Kaidou turned back to his hitting.

"Ah, that's fine Echizen-kun. I'll just ask someone else…" Fuji answered happily as he grabbed onto the freshmen's hands and started to drag him towards the captain, "You'll come help me ask him won't you Echizen-kun?"

"Fuji-senpai--!"

"Good, thank you for offering to help Echizen-kun," Fuji replied to Echizen's half-strangled shout as he dragged the poor freshmen. Reaching the captain, Fuji let go of Echizen (and he dropped to the ground) and smiled at the two most responsible players on the team.

"Fuji! Don't drag Echizen around like that! It's dangerous!" Oishi shouted immediately and went to see if the freshmen regular was alright.

Echizen seemed alright as he got up from the fall earlier and glared at his sadistic senpai. "I'm fine Oishi-senpai."

Oishi seemed relieved.

"Ah… Tezuka, would you like to come over today after school?" Fuji asked, smiling as though the world would end if he didn't.

Tezuka didn't even flinch. "Fuji, ask after class. Now's not the time."

"So is that a 'yes'?" Fuji asked innocently. Echizen frowned, what was wrong with his senpai today? Oh right, birthday, but what did that have to do with his behavior?

Tezuka didn't answer.

Echizen frowned even more. Usually his captain would start ordering laps to the smaller third-year by now… Should he be worried?

Fuji seemed to give up but smiled anyways. "Ah, Echizen-kun, are you sure you can't come?" he asked one more final time.

"I'm –" Echizen started only to be interrupted once more.

"That's great that you can come!" Fuji suddenly answered. Had Echizen been walking, he would have most likely tripped.

"Wah-? But-! I never said--!" Echizen protested wildly as he watched Fuji retreat and started to walk over to Kawamura to practice doubles with the Golden Pair.

A hand was placed on Echizen's shoulder and he turned around. "Buchou?" he asked, confusion written all over his eyes.

"Fuji's like that on his birthday. Don't worry but don't let your guard down." That was probably the most he'd ever said today so far…

With a sigh, Echizen reluctantly walked over to Momoshiro to start up a practice game. With some hope that today wouldn't be a traumatizing experience.

--

A whistle.

"What."

"The."

"Hell?"

The whole Seigaku team stood at the clubroom door with the three freshmen standing in front spouting their surprise. Echizen raised an eyebrow and whistled.

The whole entire clubroom had been decorated. Decorated was one way to say it. Toilet paper was slung up on the ceiling and around the benches as were silly string and plenty of colorful streamers. Cacti were placed on the window sills and everyone knew who had done it.

"Fuji… I should have known…" Oishi muttered, wrinkles visible on his forehead as he pushed to the front. He surveyed the clubroom and shook his head. "Well, at least it's not as bad as last year's…"

"Last year?" Echizen looked up at the mention of last year's disaster. Being a first year and all, last year was at a different school so he didn't know what had happened. "What happened last year?" he heard one freshmen ask – the shortest one with the mushroom-like hair cut.

Oishi sighed and replied, "I'll tell you three later. Let's just change…"

"What about cleaning it up?" the tallest freshmen asked.

"Knowing Fuji, he would find someway to restore it like this until the day is over even if we cleaned it…" Oishi explained as he moved aside to let Tezuka and a few other members through.

Tezuka surveyed the area and a vein almost popped. Making a mental to himself to give Fuji laps later, he continued on as if nothing had happened.

"Fuji-senpai could have done better…" Momoshiro commented as he looked around, walking into the clubroom. "Last year was a disaster… He decorated EVERYTHING in the school."

"Everything?" the trio asked, pressing for confirmation.

"Everything." Momoshiro nodded.

"Where they are?—"

"—What they're doing?—"

"—of every minute?—"

"—of every day?" (3)

With the trio switching off asking questions, Momoshiro blinked bewildering and all he could say was, "HUH?"

"You four might want to hurry up. Class starts in a few," Kawamura told them from behind. A meek smile spread across his face.

"Taka-san! Ah, I was just telling them about last year," Momoshiro explained as he moved along.

Kawamura frowned, "You should be spreading rumors about Fujiko-chan…"

"What about me?"

Kawamura and Momoshiro's face turned pale and slowly, they turned around to face the wrath of Fuji Syuusuke.

"N-Nothing," Momoshiro managed to squeak out.

It seemed as if luck was on their side for the bell had started to ring, signaling that class would be starting soon.

Fuji grinned.

--

Echizen walked into his homeroom with the intent on flopping onto his desk and sleeping until the day started or until he would be prodded awake by the coach's granddaughter only to stop short of his desk.

Written on the clean, polished wood were – in dark lettering – strange wording in which Echizen could not decipher. He frowned and would scratch his head but only shook his head and fingered the lettering.

This had to have been written just this morning. It wasn't in any language he knew nor did he recognize the handwriting… This only caused him to frown even more. Did he do something wrong and someone was getting revenge on him?

He kept standing there and staring at it. No one was in the classrooms yet since it was still early and having tennis practice in the morning had given him time… It took only a few more seconds to finally be able to decipher it.

It was written in Japanese but someone had mixed up the kanji so that it was almost unreadable. He took out a piece of paper and pencil and copied it down, unscrambling the kanji.

"Hello Echizen-kun! I knew you'd be able to read this! Just wanted to let you know that I'll wait at the school gates!"

Echizen nearly dropped the piece of paper he was holding when he finished reading the deciphered Japanese. W-Was Fuji a psychic or something? T-This was spooky…

It was then that he realized the teacher would definitely notice the dark lettering on his desk.

A chill crept up his spine and one thought fleeted across his mind.

_I'm going to kill Fuji-senpai!_

--

It took Kikumaru one look at his desk and he turned around, immediately racing for Oishi's homeroom. "OISHII!!" he called and soon found the vice captain. He pounced on the "mother" of the club and clung tightly. "Oishii!! Fujiko-chan did it again this year!"

"What? Fuji decorated the whole classroom?"

"Nya, no… But he – he wrote on my desk again!"

"What'd it say this time?" Oishi asked, almost afraid to know. Kikumaru hesitated before leaning to his doubles partner's ears and whispered something.

Oishi blushed, "Ah, we should go over after school then, if that's what it said…"

Kikumaru pouted and frowned. "Nya! No way! I don't wannaaaa!!" he whined.

"Kikumaru. Oishi," Tezuka greeted from behind. He held several books on one arm. "Fuji did it again?" he asked looking over at Oishi for confirmation.

Oishi nodded.

"We'd better go then. Don't let your guard down," Tezuka told them and left.

"Nya… Why Fujiko-chan?"

--

Tezuka Kunimitsu stood in front of his desk, a noticeably large vein popping on his forehead. He shook with anger and slowly, placed a hand on his once-clean desk.

Now it was covered in ink-blank kanji taunting him.

He made a mental note to himself that he'd hand out laps to the feminine player on the tennis team later on.

But for now…

"FUJI!"

In another classroom, Fuji looked up with a confused expression.

"Did someone just say my name?"

**Author's Note:** Happy birthday Fuji Syuusuke! Gah, we all love your sadistic streak. Sorry this was so lame. But I promise I'll make it all up to Fuji with a piccie. ((smiles))

1 - Itadakimasu is a saying like "Let's eat!" or something. Someone please tell me if I spelled that wrong.

2 - Itakimasu is a saying like "I'm going!" or something. Someone please tell me if I spelled that wrong.

3 - Sorry, I couldn't resist. XD This part was actually from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where the twins are telling Harry about the map. Gotta love the twins. xD

So thoughts? Advice? Comments?


	7. Oishi Syuichiro

**Author's Note:** Oishi will be referred as Oishi while his family will be referred to as their given names.

**Special thanks to Hikari Sango for beta-ing!**

Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: Sadly, Konomi Takeshi owns everything here.

Chapter 7 – Oishi Syuichiro:

"Eh? A birthday dinner?" Oishi asked with a confused look. He had just arrived down the stairs and found his parents wishing him a happy birthday and asking for a birthday dinner later that day.

He hesitated for a bit, but a smile was quickly plastered on his features and he nodded in agreement. "Sure," he replied.

"Yay!" his younger sister, Hanako, yelped gleefully as she launched herself onto her older brother's back.

Oishi turned back and yelped at the sudden weight on his back. "Hana!" he admonished, trying to pry the hyperactive girl off him. She was so much like him…

He blinked and glanced at the clock, which read a little after eight. He turned to his parents and, with a smile, finally tugged his sister off, grabbed his bag and said, "Itakimasu!" and left.

_A birthday dinner…_ he thought, frowning a bit as he walked up the steps onto the bus which he took everyday to school. It was part of a routine. His routine. _What am I going to tell him?_ He asked himself; his eyes seemed to not see at all.

His arm reflexively grabbed onto the pole next to him as the bus turned and gave a lurch, waking him out of his thoughts.

"Oishi."

He turned around, half-surprised and half-expecting the voice. "Tezuka," he greeted with a smile.

Tezuka had his own way of greeting: he nodded and handed Oishi a small package. "Happy birthday," he told the younger boy, same stoic features still plastered on his face.

Oishi smiled, accepted the package and thanked him. He glanced at it and saw that it was fairly small – only about a size of a large pencil, only wider. "Thank you Tezuka," he thanked.

Tezuka nodded. "The team decided to get together and buy you something," he explained.

"Ah, then this… must be a lot," Oishi answered. He lifted the package and inspected it. _What could be in it that could be so small and expensive?_ He asked himself.

The Seigaku captain didn't talk for the rest of the ride to school. Oishi didn't mind; he, too, fell silent.

--

Practice started out normally. The captain and vice captain stood around, supervising the other members while they cried out and grunted, reaching for the flying balls with their racquets.

Oishi smiled as he fixated his attention over at the regulars, watching as they played practice rounds – partners chosen by Inui. He watched as Kaidou sat on the ground, stretching out his arm as Inui stood towering over him, the usual notebook at hand.

"Hoi hoi!"

He turned his attention towards the doubles practice, finding that his double partner was practicing with Fuji against the Momoshiro-Echizen pair for extra practice in doubles.

Kikumaru seemed to have sensed Oishi's gaze on him as they took a break, for when he reached for his bottle, he stopped suddenly and waved at the vice captain, grinning wildly.

"Hi Oishii!" he greeted.

Fuji walked up and appeared next to the hyperactive acrobatic player. Smiling, he nodded in acknowledgement of Oishi and went on to talk to Kikumaru about their plan to keep attacking.

Before Oishi knew it, practice was over and the tennis club members trooped into the club room to change into their school uniforms.

"That was great practice today, everyone," Oishi commented, making sure his voice was loud and clear as the other members trekked in. He nodded to each of them as an acknowledgment and smiled at Kikumaru.

"Eiji, can I…talk to you?" he asked the acrobatic doubles player.

Kikumaru's reply was a grin and a nod, holding a "V" with his fingers. His way of answering "yes" and meeting after school.

--

However, the day seemed long to Oishi. Class after class, he tapped his pencil impatiently, waiting for the bell to ring at the end of the last class.

He sighed and stared up at the chalkboard in which the teacher was writing formulas on.

What was he supposed to tell his doubles partner? That they couldn't celebrate his birthday together because he decided that he would celebrate it as a birthday dinner?

He let his thoughts wander for a while and before he knew it, the class had ended with the bell ringing.

--

Oishi knew it.

That look on Kikumaru's face told him all.

"Sorry Eiji…" Oishi apologized. Kikumaru stared at his feet and looked up, grinning as if everything was still fine in the world.

"It's fine, Oishii nya!" he proclaimed, and began to turn around. "I'm sure you'll have a fun, happy birthday, Oishi!"

With that, he turned and ran, giving a small wave as he did.

Oishi stood frozen. His doubles partner hadn't called him that in a long time. And so suddenly…

…Kikumaru was definitely and most likely mad at him, Oishi thought sadly as he pulled the gift from his tennis bag.

Traditionally, he and Kikumaru had always spent Oishi's birthdays' at the tennis courts, playing against each other and perfecting their tennis formations. Of course, Kikumaru still wanted to defeat Oishi at some point, but somehow never did so.

Oishi sighed and placed the gift back in the bag, walking over to the entrance of Seigaku to wait for his ride.

Please let him forgive me…

--

"What's wrong Nii-san?" Hanako's childish voice asked as she looked up at her elder brother.

Oishi glanced down and smiled. "Nothing Hana-chan," he replied, giving a small wave. They sat around the large table, all four chairs were filled.

His mother stared at him worriedly, hand over her mouth as if she had realized something. "I shouldn't have convinced you to have a birthday dinner…" she murmured. "You must have wanted to go out with your friends…"

"No Okaa-san, it's fine," he replied.

In truth, he really did want to spend time with his friends…

--

"E-Eiji?" Oishi stuttered, eyes widening. He stepped forward to the doubles player who had suddenly appeared on his front porch as he arrived home from the dinner. His parents, who seemed to understand and knew automatically who it was, dragged Hanako into the house.

Kikumaru grinned. "I was wondering if you were still up for a game, nya," he confessed quite carelessly. He looked abashed, hands hiding behind his back.

Oishi smiled and nodded. "Sure, just wait a minute while I go grab my—"

He was suddenly cut off when Kikumaru grabbed his chin, pulled it towards his own and placed his lips over Oishi's.

The kiss was brief, as they were still young and Kikumaru still hadn't known…

They backed away and Kikumaru – who still held a hand over his mouth – looked away, almost afraid.

Oishi didn't speak for a moment.

"E-Eiji…" he whispered.

The next action seemed to have told Kikumaru what he wanted. For Oishi grabbed Kikumaru's chin, spun it to face him and kissed him.

--

"Open your present!" Kikumaru chided, urging his doubles partner and boyfriend to open the small gift.

Oishi smiled and took it out from his tennis bag, carefully peeling off the tape and wrapping paper. He lifted the lid that covered the box and stared.

Two tickets to an onsen.

Hot springs.

He picked one up and handed it to Kikumaru.

"You're coming with me."

**Author's Note:** ((hides)) Don't kill me? I know they're OOC but in order for me to get this up in time for Oishi's birthday, I had to rush. I know, I should have written it earlier, but school got in the way. Just so you know, we're past halfway finished with this! Yay! I'll probably rewrite it later anyways…

So anyways, Hanako is the name I made up for Oishi's sister because, he does have a sister. We just don't know the age or what her name is. So I made it up.

Er yeah, I should have warn you peoples about the shonen ai content. Well, it's GP so it's CANON.

And so… comments? Reviews? Advice? Thoughts?


	8. Kaidou Kaoru

**Special thanks to Hikari Sango for beta-ing this!**

Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 8 – Kaidou Kaoru:

Kaidou Kaoru rubbed his eyes sleepily as he lay in bed. His birthday had been tiring and well, he couldn't say it was the worst ever.

It certainly wasn't the best birthday either.

It was probably one of the most hectic.

A small smile crept its way up to his lips and he brushed a few strands of loose hair away from his face. A light blush covered his cheeks as he remembered the days' events…

--

"One more…" he muttered to himself, sitting up once more for his usual routine of five-hundred sit-ups.

"There," he said, muttering once more and getting up. He bent down and started to do his stretches after a quick yawn. The sun was still rising and so he had just gotten up.

After a few stretches, he started to pick up his bag and headed inside to put it away. It wasn't until he reached the door to his house when he noticed someone following him.

By then, it was too late and someone had covered his mouth with a hand.

The next thing he knew, he could see no more but he felt himself being led around the neighborhood.

"Oi! What the hell do you want?" he yelled, though the words were muffled.

The "kidnapper" seemed to chuckle and replied, not worried about revealing his voice, "Don't worry, Kaidou."

Instantly, Kaidou knew who it was. "Inui-senpai?!" he yelped, wondering why his upperclassmen was doing this to him on such an early morning.

Inui let out his strange chuckle. "Ah Kaidou."

Since knowing his kidnapper's identity, he felt much more calm and relaxed.

Inui seemed to notice for he commented on it. "You're not struggling anymore."

The walk to wherever Inui was leading seemed long to Kaidou, however that was probably because he was blindfolded.

It wasn't long, though, when he heard the voice of his rival.

"MAMUSHI? HA! Ah—Inui-senpai!" The power house seemed to have noticed the data player almost afterwards.

"Ah, Momoshiro, would you like to try my new juice? It's called—" Inui suggested, shuffling a bit. He probably had been reaching for the juice.

Momoshiro had other ideas. "No thanks Inui-senpai!" he answered quickly, "what did you do to Mamushi?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Or how about the new Aozu?" Inui continued.

Momoshiro looked as if he had gotten the hint and sped away on his bike.

Kaidou, still blindfolded, let out an exasperated hiss. They would be late for school now.

--

"Inui-senpai, where are you leading me?" he asked, when they finally stopped.

Kaidou heard the upperclassmen reach and untie the blindfold. "There."

"SURPRISE!"

-splat-

Kaidou got a face full of apple pie.

--

"That was NOT funny! SHUT UP, PEACH BUTT!" Kaidou shouted, glaring at his rival. He growled and continued to wipe the apple pie from his face. It was getting into his hair now… Oh well, at least he hadn't taken a shower when he left for jogging…

Momoshiro continued to laugh. He laughed, hysterically.

"Now Momo," Fuji's soft voice murmured, "you shouldn't laugh at a fellow teammate." His eyes glowed dangerously yet at the same time, it seemed to be hinted in amusement.

Momoshiro immediately stopped laughing. "Aha…Fuji-senpai, when did you get here?" he asked.

Inui had led Kaidou to the Kawamura restaurant where several tennis members and classmates threw a surprise party for him. One student – Kaidou swore they would be dead by next morning – had dared to throw an apple pie at him right in the face.

"I've been here since the beginning," Fuji promptly replied, smiling.

"Mada mada dane," Echizen muttered, from nowhere. He appeared behind Fuji, pulling his cap over his eyes.

"Kaidou, don't let your guard down," Tezuka advised once more, crossing his arms.

Inui's glasses seemed to flash dangerously – even more so than Fuji's eyes earlier.

Kaidou growled once more.

--

When Kaidou practiced that day, he swore he felt a pair of eyes on him. Or two.

--

Later, when he got out of the shower after practice, he noticed a flyer. Or something. A paper had been stuck to his locker.

He looked around and noticed only Echizen, who had just slammed his locker shut.

They glanced.

"Inui-senpai," was Echizen's only reply to Kaidou's unasked question.

--

Kaidou stared at the paper.

Another training menu…

He smiled.

**Author's Note:** OoO I hate this. But happy birthday Kaidou Kaoru! And technically, I am not late! Since I finished this with 28 minutes to spare! Whee! XD And I had chocolate, thanks to my sister. InuKai love, ne?

So thoughts, comments, reviews, advice?


	9. Inui Sadaharu

**Thanks to Ayumi Uchiha for beta-ing this chapter!**

Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 9 – Inui Sadaharu:

The humming of the computer's central processing unit sounded in the void of a room. A nearly quiet "click", and "tap" of the keys were subtly heard. Fingers tapped on along with the humming.

Inui Sadaharu was again locking himself up in his room, trying to interpret various data and discover new recipes for his juice.

Everything was dead silent.

But then, the comforting silence was interrupted when the ringing of his cell phone was heard. Its deafening tone resonated all throughout the room.

Inui Sadaharu spun around from facing his computer due to his previous work and reached over his bed, taking the phone at hand.

Why was his phone placed on his bed? That, readers, is a mystery even Yanagi can't uncover. He looked at the caller ID, with his eyebrow raised, as he read that the caller was "Kirihara Akaya".

He flipped the phone open and answered, "I'm sorry Kirihara-kun. I'm quite busy at this moment. Call back later," he rapidly stated, not even giving the other line a chance to speak.

On the other line, Yanagi Renji stood while staring at the phone. Without a change in his expression, he closed the phone back into its locked position and handed it over to Kirihara.

"Akaya. Here. Thanks, but he didn't answer," Yanagi said in monotone.

Kirihara nodded, but on the inside, he felt glad that the Seigaku scientist hadn't answered. Who knew what kind of person was Inui if he and Yanagi were friends?

Definitely the weird, sadistic kind.

Yanagi seemed to be thinking as he stood next to Yukimura and Sanada during practice. He was supposed to watch the other members for anything "highly significant and suspicious signs" but…

He suddenly looked up and turned to face Yukimura.

"Seiichi, would you mind if I borrowed your cell phone?" he asked. Yes, his eyes were still closed, in case you wanted to know.

Yukimura smiled and slipped the mobile into Yanagi's hand. "But Renji, go elsewhere to speak."

Yanagi smiled and nodded, running off to speak under a tree.

He held the mobile tightly in his hand and dialed the familiar numbers, anxiously waiting for the voice on the other side.

"As much as I'd like to speak to you, Yukimura, I can't right now," Inui's voice spoke suddenly.

"I—"

Without waiting for Yanagi to speak, Inui hung up. Of course, he didn't really know it had been Yanagi. Yanagi frowned. What could the Seigaku data player be doing that required too much of his attention that he forgot his own birthday?

Maybe he would try again later…

--

Inui Sadaharu continued typing on his computer just after turning off his cell phone.

_I should buy snails tomorrow. But are they available in supermarkets? Hmm, maybe I can just gather them... Where can I get snails?_ he thought to himself.

--

"You want us to call Inui-senpai?" Momoshiro asked, blinking at the Rikkai data player's sudden question and appearance.

Yanagi shook his head. "No, I meant..."

"Echizen! Stop stealing my fries!" He reached for the stolen potatoes.

Echizen smirked and stuck a fry in his mouth. "Mada mada dane."

"I meant...I wanted to borrow your cell phone," Yanagi replied, mentally adding in their data. "I had forgotten mine at home and well… I'm already in Tokyo..."

Momoshiro blinked once more and glanced at Echizen, who was seated beside him, stuffing himself with the burgers he had bought. "Oi, Echizen! Did you even hear a word he said?" he admonished, nudging the first year.

Echizen coughed and choked on his burger. "Momo-senpai! Don't do that when I'm eating!" he growled, wiping the excess food off his cheeks.

Momoshiro rolled his eyes. This kid… "Alright, here, use my cell phone then," Momoshiro said, addressing Yanagi and handing over the mobile.

Yanagi smiled. "Ah, thank you…" he replied, accepting the cell phone and dialing the number.

"_Beep, beep!_ The number you have dialed is not in service. Please hang up and try again later... or in a few years," Inui, who was obviously trying to sound like an operator, said.

A twitch was now visible on Yanagi's forehead. _Why isn't he answering?_ he thought.

Perhaps the Seigaku data man hadn't predicted Yanagi's calls?

He sighed, ending the call and handing the mobile back to Momoshiro. "Thank you, Momoshiro," he thanked him. Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left the fast food joint.

"What was that all about?" Momoshiro asked, raising an eyebrow. He stared after the running third year for a while before averting his gaze onto his burger – which had magically disappeared.

"Oi, Echizen! Did you see my burger?" he growled.

Echizen looked up innocently. "What burger are you talking about?"

--

The door bell rang. Yanagi stood outside, looking mildly frustrated. Of all the times… He cursed, noting that no one was answering the door. Just when he was about to turn around and walk away, the door opened.

"Ah, Renji?" Inui asked, his voice denoting a small hint of surprise.

Yanagi smiled, relieved that Inui was there. "Hello there, Doctor."

Inui smiled too, though he was still confused why Yanagi came to see him. "Come in. What are you doing all the way here in Tokyo?" he asked, shutting the door behind him.

"Just visiting," Yanagi answered.

"Ah! It's Renji-kun!" Inui's mother greeted, surprised. "It's been a while!" She walked over to him and pulled him into an embrace.

Yanagi nodded. "Ah, it has…"

Inui smiled as his mother released his best friend. "Let's go up to my room."

Inui's mother grinned. "I'll get something for the both of you!" she declared, "...just like old times!"

Yanagi followed Inui up the stairs, as he surveyed the house. Things hadn't changed… Just what his data had predicted…

--

"So, why did you really come here?" Inui asked, sitting down on his chair once more. He threw a couple of green notebooks off his bed and motioned for his friend to sit.

Yanagi sat on the bed and noticed that Inui still places his cell phone on his bed. _He really hasn't changed..._

He smiled. "Don't tell me you actually forgot," he teased.

"Your birthday? Of course not, Renji. In fact, I have your present under the bed," Inui answered, going back to his work.

Yanagi felt like slapping his forehead. But of course he'd never do it! Come on, he _is _Yanagi Renji.

Nevertheless, he bent down and dug for his present. He picked it up and surveyed it. "Thanks," he replied, noting the dust covering it.

When Inui just replied a soft "Hn", Yanagi decided to just get to the point.

"Actually, I'm here for your birthday," he stated.

Inui stopped typing.

He looked up as he racked his brain for any bit of remembrance. "Ah, almost forgot…" he smiled sheepishly as he realized.

"Happy birthday," Yanagi smiled. No, his eyes were not closed right now. He opened them for 3.804748 seconds, as Inui estimated.

"Thanks, Professor," Inui replied. "Oh! Do you by any chance have some snails at your home?" he added.

"What for?" Yanagi asked, confused.

"Just think of it as your birthday present for me." Inui grinned evilly.

Yanagi sweat dropped. 'He really hasn't changed', he thought wistfully.

Oh, well... At least he's not a member of Seigaku's Tennis Club.

Author's Note: I have never really known Inui's character very well so please forgive me if Inui or Yanagi are too OOC. Gah, and I know it's uberly late. ((shot for misuse of German)) And so, please sit patiently and await the final chapter of this story and Momo's segment!


	10. Momoshiro Takeshi

_**Special thanks to Hikari Sango for beta-ing this final chapter!! ((hugs))**_

**Warning: If you cannot stand shonen ai/yaoi or drinking, please refrain from reading this chapter.**

Happy Birthday

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 10 - Momoshiro Takeshi:

Momoshiro Takeshi grinned. Today would be his twenty-first birthday and the first year where the ex-regulars would all be legal! He thought excitedly of what would happen at his birthday bash as he pressed his foot down on the pedal of his new car.

His parents had gotten him the luxury of a ride. A new car.

He was on his way to Kawamura Sushi Bar. He couldn't wait to see his fellow ex-teammates once more. It had been too long. That is, if you counted a year to be too long.

Minutes later, he found himself sitting down next to Kaidou – he didn't know how – half-drunk and two of his guests hadn't even arrived.

"Momo…" Kawamura chided lightly, "don't drink too much so fast!" He tried pulling a half-filled bottle of rum from the birthday boy's hand.

Momoshiro burped and protested, "But this year we finally get to drink together!"

Kawamura sighed and turned to Kaidou, who looked very uncomfortable at the fact that Momoshiro was half-leaning on him and looking very sober.

"Kaidou, you alright with this?" he asked, whispering.

"Nya! C'mon Oishi! Let's play a game!" one hyperactive volley player declared, launching himself on his ex-doubles partner. "Play a game! A game!" He jumped, obviously a bit drunk.

Oishi looked shaken up. "E-Eiji! How much have you drank?" he asked, worried for his friend. "Here, let me help you," he muttered, and without waiting for a reply, he threw one of Kikumaru's arms around his neck and heaved him up. He dragged him towards one of the tables and let him lie on the seats.

Tezuka sighed. If only he were captain again… he would be able to make them run laps.

"We're here everyone!" a familiar, soprano voice called from the entrance. "Look who I ran into," Fuji continued, dragging the youngest regular member from him.

"Hey…" Echizen grumbled, not at all happy to be there even though it was his senpai and friend's birthday.

Kawamura smiled and walked over to the newly arrived guests. "Ah! There you two are. Both of you are late! Echizen I understand but…" he trailed off, sensing something about Fuji. "Anyways, Momo and Eiji are already drunk…"

Echizen let out a soft "che". "Figures…" he muttered, sitting down next to Tezuka and asking Kawamura's dad for a grape Ponta.

Fuji smiled and glanced at Echizen. "Eh? Don't you want a real drink, Echizen? You are of age now," Fuji challenged.

Echizen seemed to be thinking by the way his hand hovered hesitantly over the cap of the soda. "Hm… No thanks," he replied.

Fuji smiled even more. A challenge. "Ehh… and here I thought maybe Ryoma-kun would like to beat me in _something_ at the very least…" he continued, pretending to mutter it although it was loud enough for even Momoshiro and Kikumaru to hear.

"That's a good one Fuji-senpai!" Momoshiro cheered, still not drunk enough to slur his words.

A loud "thunk!" had everyone turning their attention to the source.

Echizen had a fist down on the table. "Fine, bring it on."

Fuji's eyes opened. "Saa… Let's."

Kikumaru snored. Oishi fretted over the two shortest regulars. Kaidou let out a hiss. Momoshiro looked eager to watch the match. Kawamura watched worriedly and Tezuka kept drinking.

--

Three bottles and several shots later found Tezuka rubbing his head. He glanced at his watch. He sighed. He should be leaving but…

"More!"

Both Fuji and Echizen were still drinking and Kawamura-san(1) had already left long ago. He briefly wondered if Momoshiro even minded that they were "stealing his spotlight".

He watched as Fuji drank another shot. Echizen followed suit easily.

For a beginner, he found it quite strange that Echizen was able to keep up. Perhaps he had been drinking underage…

Before he could ask Echizen, Momoshiro got up suddenly and tried to run into the bathroom. Instead, he tripped over Kaidou – who happened to be there – and Kaidou found himself covered in stuff in which he did not want to name.

Tezuka rubbed his temples. "Oishi, help Momoshiro up. Kaidou, go clean up," he commanded. Though he could not give laps, he could still order them around.

"Hai…"

--

"Fshu… Really, Peach Butt, that was stupid," Kaidou hissed as he sat, waiting for Momoshiro to finish cleaning him up.

Momoshiro hiccupped and briefly wondered what he had done for Tezuka to order him to clean Kaidou up. It really wasn't his fault! That stupid Viper was already there and he just tripped.

"Shut it, Viper!" he growled. "And sit still! If you don't, you'll be stuck in the -hic- mess I made," he continued.

Kaidou hissed again and tried his best to sit still. Really, the slime was trailing off him. It was disgusting!

"Hey… There's some on our face, close your eyes," Momoshiro said, hiccupping.

Kaidou resisted the urge to roll his eyes but close them.

Momoshiro reached up and started wiping the gunk off. Why on earth did he have to eat so much? He asked himself. But… it was the first time he really got a close look at his rival and ex-teammate.

Even though they had been through so much and known each other for so long, they never really took a good look at each others' faces.

Well, at least he didn't, anyways.

There was something about his face. No, it wasn't the way his eyebrows curved down and created that scary exterior… It was his lips.

For the first time in his life, Momoshiro found himself fascinated by Kaidou's lips. He longed to touch it. The towel fell and Kaidou opened his eyes just in time to feel lips pressed upon his own.

Kaidou didn't have time to speak or even let out a sound. All he could do was sit there on the cold, hard floor of the bathroom and let Momoshiro kiss him. Momoshiro didn't even seem to mind that he was kissing his rival.

But…

Kaidou pushed Momoshiro off.

"O-Oi! Viper! What are you doing?" he asked, growling and looking very angry at the fact that he had just been interrupted during quite a good kiss.

"What were **you** doing, Peach Butt?" Kaidou demanded, getting up. "All of a sudden, you're on me and kissing me. Are you even sober?"

Momoshiro looked shocked and realized with a jolt what he had done. "I kissed Viper? I kissed Viper… Huh…" he muttered to himself, and mentally declared himself delusional. "I kissed Viper! Ha!"

Kaidou glared at Momoshiro but stopped when he found Momoshiro laughing.

"What's so funny?" he hissed, literally.

Momoshiro continued laughing and hiccupping. "I kissed you!"

Kaidou sighed. "I know that… he must be really drunk…" he muttered, walking over to the laughing boy. He grabbed Momoshiro's arm and lifted him – those years of training helped – over himself.

"Ew! I don't want to lay on this stuff!" Momoshiro protested.

"It's your own fault for throwing up on me," Kaidou shot back. That shut Momoshiro up about that subject.

"Why am I on you anyways?" Momoshiro asked, suddenly wondering why he was on Kaidou. Why indeed…

Kaidou grunted and walked out the bathroom, trying to avoid the group drinking in the restaurant. "Getting fresh air."

"BURNING! One more cup, Echizen!" Kawamura's voice was heard as they exited through the back.

--

Kaidou dropped Momoshiro on the grass and sat next to him.

"Ow… You didn't have to drop me you know, Viper!" Momoshiro complained. "At least it doesn't smell out here…"

Kaidou didn't answer. "Why did you kiss me?" he asked.

Momoshiro looked up and hesitated. "I don't know really… I like you?" he suggested. But the way he said it made it seem as if he was asking himself as well.

There was a silence and a few crickets chirped.

"Do you want to try it again?" Momoshiro asked, calmly.

Kaidou looked flustered and turned his head away. "You don't get a birthday present from me then," he retorted.

Momoshiro pouted. "What? But it's my birthday!" he yelped, getting up.

"Like I said, no birth—"

His sentence was cut off when Momoshiro placed his lips on his own once again.

This time, it lasted much longer.

From behind several bushes, Inui's glasses gleamed. "Just as I predicted. 98 percent chance that they will get together…"

"Inui-senpai is scary…" Echizen muttered, cheeks flushed from the many shots he had drunk. His body started to feel heavy and he started to lean over.

Fuji chuckled from beside him. "Ah… but they're always correct…"

Tezuka sat on Echizen's other side and glanced at the half-asleep boy – he was still the youngest. "Ah… Inui is…" he finished, leaning down and giving the boy a kiss on the forehead.

Fuji smiled. "Remember Tezuka, sharing!"

"78 percent chance they will stop for air…"

Momoshiro let Kaidou go. "Ha!" he panted. "I win!"

Kaidou got up from his lying position. "Win what?"

Momoshiro stood up and pointed at Kaidou. "You!"

"B-Bastard!"

-end of chapter 10-

**Author's Note:** It's quite an abrupt ending but I like it. Sorry for the short chapter but… That's it peoples. I'm finally finished with my FIRST Prince of Tennis multi-chapter story. I kind of like it. Well, I thank you people who have supported this fic thus far! I thank everyone for taking the time to read and review this story! Thank you so much for the 5000 plus hits! Thank you!

Most of all, I thank Hikari Sango for beta-ing most of this story! She is the best even with all the real life stuff going around. And Ayumi Uchiha for beta-ing chapter 9 and revising it up a bit. Her creative writings are always so amusing.

Thank you so much everyone!


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